IN PREPARATION FOR THE PRESS 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR 

Wist Cen Christian pastorate 

of 

Cubitus ^ergtltu* Jlaro 

Comprising the text, verse translation, 

christian arguments, esoteric notes 

and cipher readings. 




Class _J2)XL^A 
Book.. 



GopyrightN 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT; 



The Christ of Promise 



HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL 
OVID, HORACE ETC. 



By 
VINCENT A. FITZ SIMON, M.D. 

(Joint author of "The Gods of Old") 



" Truth crushed to earth shall rise again, 
The eternal years of God are hers ; 
But Error, wounded, writhes in pain 
And dies among his worshippers." 

BRYANT. 




G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS NEW YORK 



?5 



Copyright, 1909, by 
V. A. FITZ SIMON, M.D. 



Press of J. J. Little & Ives Co. 
New York 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
f w0 C0Dle9 Received 
MAY 10 W09 

_ Copyrntnt £ntry 

d.A93 o. m N ° 
?-2§ok 7 J 



PREFACE 



The title of this book indicates the substance of its contents — 
that the story of Christ has been told by ancient classic poets, by 
Vergil and his fellows of the Augustan period, by Euripides and 
his brethren of an earlier date, by Hesiod and Homer in still 
earlier time, and by others who preceded them but whose names 
and works have vanished in the musty past. 

And why should it not? The knowledge of a One Supreme 
Being survived through the ages ; so did that of a first man and 
woman ; so did that of the Deluge. Why, then, should the tradition 
of a promised Redeemer have been lost. That it was preserved 
among the Jews is conceded : that it was not confined to them is 
manifested by the words of Job, "I know that my Redeemer 
liveth" — and Job was not a Jew. If one Gentile was possessed of 
the tradition, why not others ? 

There is ample proof in the classics that there existed in 
every age, and scattered over the great countries of the world, a 
number of persons who preserved the knowledge of a One God 
and Saviour to come, who privately called themselves "Chris- 
tians" and their cult "Christianity," who (while living and mixing 
with their infidel neighbors) had passwords of their own, and met 
secretly in conventicle wrtere they practised the rites of their re- 
ligion and received instruction from their priests and elders. The 
cult never died : it was handed down from father to son, and new 
accessions were received from the ranks of those whose reason 
revolted against polytheism, and whose souls lusted for better and 
higher things than a sensuous paganism proffered. Eleusis, while 
openly a pagan temple, exhibits strong proofs of having been 
really a propaganda for disseminating the cult's mysteries. The 
different Schools helped on the work, for, dealing as they did 
with such subjects as the infinite and finite, eternity, time and 
space, the True, the Beautiful and the Good, the philosophers 
were enabled to openly sow seed that overtopped the pagan cockle 
and made thinkers seek for further instruction. 



iv PREFACE 

But better than those, better it may be than all combined, 
were the poets of their day, the men "who feel great truths — and 
tell them." They took advantage of the privileges universally 
allowed to song — figurative speech that starts new images before 
the eye, siren rythm that seduces every sense into the ear, the 
doubtful pause that throws a friendly shade o'er truth, the sud- 
den exclamation that grips the mind, the poetic diction denied to 
prose, the homonymous words that "ope (and sometimes wrest) 
the locks and hinges of the breast" : all those and more, with 
knowledge pilfered from logical, philosophical, geological, astron- 
omical and other scientific stores, they brought to bear upon the 
subject dearest to their hearts, and welded the whole into lan- 
guage that told one story to the Pagan, and another to the Chris- 
tian. 

"A herculean task and an impossible one," it may be said. 
The latter it might have been were it not for the existence of a 
cipher known only by the cult, a cipher whose origin and origi- 
nators went back to the hidden past of time, a cipher whose 
wards were capable of being adjusted to the alphabetical char- 
acters of every written language, a cipher that drew literal pic- 
tures of the Promised One, and enabled love, himself in love, to 
gaze upon the Name, point it out to readers, and weave arotmd 
it every now and again some morsels of the story that had come 
down through the grooves of time. No meagre story is it. The 
Name is spread over every classic page ; and the story is told with 
a fullness and often with a clearness of details that throws the 
Jewish record into the shade, and leaves a reasonable doubt as to 
whether the poets' information was derived from a more critical 
reading than our own of that record, or from sources outside of 
and possibly earlier than it. 

But, no doubt whatsoever, a herculean task it was. To write 
an ode, elegy, hymn, pastoral or any short poem of from two dozen 
to six dozen lines, in the dual fashion that they did, and in so 
doing to mystify the pagan, instruct the christian, and earn 
deserved laudations from both for what appealed to the mind of 
each — to do this much even, was a surprising task. What then 
must be thought of similar efforts continued through works con- 
taining thousands of lines ! Yet, this is what was done by Horace, 
Tibullus, Catullus, by Alcaeus, Sappho, Callimachus and scores 
of others in Greece and Rome ; yes, and this is what was done by 
Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey, by Hesiod in the Works and 
Days, by Vergil in the Aeneid, by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, 



PREFACE v 

and by many another in poems of extended length. Those poets 
and others like them were of the cult and wrote solely for the 
cult, though compelled (for reasons that scarcely need explana- 
tion) to adopt a cover for their real theme. But what of that? 
Words are free, cannot be monopolized by one single subject; 
and the same set that pictures war or peace, love or hate, social 
pleasures, scientific lore, or what you will, comprises the same 
"cannons of the mind" that preach the Word. Words were neces- 
sary to tell the story and point out the name of Him who was to 
come, and one set of verbal soldiers was as good as another pro- 
vided genius was at their head (as it was), and provided the cult 
knew the object of attack (as it did). 

We have no brief for their genius ; the world fully recognizes 
the fact. But what we plead for is that those poets were the men 
who went to work in the vineyard at earliest morn, who scattered 
the good seed in the days when Paganism was rampant, and 
braved fine, exile, the prison, torture and death in doing so ; that 
those were the men who made martyrs of themselves, and bar- 
tered for sake of Him they loved their own reputation for well- 
balanced understanding, truth, decency and morality. All this 
they did with the present expectation of being able to write more 
freely of that God, and with the future hope of being interpreted 
aright when Christianity became triumphant. Has that hope been 
fulfilled? 

This is what we plead for, and we ask impartial scholars the 
world over to give the question due consideration. We ask them 
to do what Philemon of old, under similar circumstances, directed 
a doubting disciple to do — to throw custom aside and bring good 
intent to bear upon the text ; to remember that there are tw o ways 
in poetry, one for the cult and another for the profane ; to weigh 
the author's meaning and to probe his words : "do this," says Phile- 
mon, "and you will find that the poet has done his own share, has 
written and glorified the name of Him who will die for sinners." 
It is not too much to ask. Justice demands it — the lingering jus- 
tice due to a dead intelligence, the immediate justice required by 
the living present, and the justice above all that is responsible for 
instilling right and wrong into the virgin minds of those who will 
continue to peruse the pages of classic writers. 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface 

Chapter I. — A sketch of Greek Paganism I 

A glimpse of the first century after the Flood — Fortunes of Japhet 
and his sons — The Greek race ; its religion ; its gods classified ac- 
cording to age, place and rank; actual, not emblematic beings to 
the vast majority — Each greater deity was a composite of divine 
attributes and human instincts ; Thirlwall's analysis of Zeus ; the 
"human" element an attractive and endearing one to the masses; 
the "divine" element suggests ulterior intent — How Greek Pagan- 
ism grew, flourished, and survived the fall of Greece itself. 
Jesus Christ is born — Twelve men against the world; rapid 
spread of early Christianity — Persecution begins under Nero; 
lasts for Jieary three centuries ; tortures that make the blood run 
cold — Constantine, and peace — Julian ; "Thou hast conquered, 
Galilean !" 

Chapter II. — Was Paganism the religion of the cultured? 12 

Religion, a problem actuated by human cravings, outward condi- 
tions and intelligence; remarks of Xenophon and Cicero — Poly- 
theism or Monotheism? If, through mere intelligence, the 
thinkers of to-day scoff at the former, why should the thinkers 
of ancient days not have done the same? — A partial list of what 
those thinkers thought out and worked — Quotations from classic 
writers asserting that there is but one God; no express interdict 
placed by Greece or Rome on believing in and philosophizing upon 
a One Supreme Being; testimony of St. Paul — Remarks upon the 
respect and reverence paid by those thinkers to "the gods"; what 
the term, individually or collectively, meant to them is identical with 
our own usage of the word — Esoteric application of "the gods" 
to "men" ; Scriptural authority for the same ; advantages afforded 
to the poets by the term. 

Chapter III. — Could they have had a knowledge of the Christ? 20 

Reasons why they should, deduced from the survival of belief in 
One God, a first man and woman, their fall, and the Deluge ; from 
the importance and general consequences of the Promise to hu- 
manity; from the example of Melchisedek, the words of Job, 
and the knowledge of the Magi who journeyed to Jerusalem; from 
the providence, goodness and justice of God; from the rapid and 
early spread of the Gospel among the Greeks and other gentiles. 
Reasons why they could, deduced from the enforced or voluntary 
communication between the Jews and such people as the Assyrians, 



viii CONTENTS 

Page 
Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Greeks and Egyptians ; from the 
utterances of Solomon and the elder Tobias; from the constant 
and intimate relations between Greece and Egypt, and the exten- 
sive travel of Greek philosophers in Asia Minor, Egypt, and else- 
where; from the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek 
in 277 B.C.; from the esoteric instructions of philosophers; from 

the Eleusinian mysteries ; from the fostering and perpetuation 
of the classics by the early Fathers of the Church — A possible 
clue to the dots, dashes, marginal and other marks in ancient 
manuscripts; chrestomathy and Christomathy. 

Chapter IV.— Did they make mention of His name? 32 

"No," if the word be looked for as we are accustomed to see it: 
"Yes," if we grant (as we must) that it, or any other word, can 
be written in a concealed form — Three valid reasons that forbade 
the ancients from writing the Name openly — The concealed 
method of writing it and of telling the story is approved and 
adopted, subject to certain specific conditions; apparent hopeless- 
ness of the task; ultimate triumph — When, where, and by whom 
originated and achieved, not known; it goes back to pre-Homeric 
time; a suggestive extract from Berosus. 

Chapter V. — Religion and Science 40 

Sect. i. — The Science of religion : — 

Showing how shortly after the Flood, when men were still one 
in race, language and religion, the survivors might have been 
prompted to preserve the annals of Antediluvian time, and to 
write down in mythological terms and plain diction all the 
scientific lore acquired during the previous seventeen cen- 
turies; mode of disseminating this science of religion. 

Sect. 2. — The Religion of science : — 

Showing how, after ethnic and linguistic changes ensued from 
the building of Babel, the people of different countries might 
have forced their priests to give them idols; and how the 
priests, in order to preserve the semblance of true worship, 
yielded to their demands and gave as idols the philosophical, 
physical, mental and vital forces that had previously been 
written and compiled in "the Science of religion" — Conse- 
quences to both religion and science of emigration to distant 
lands — How they fared in the mother countries ; the impor- 
tant role played by Eleusis in preserving and propagating the 
truths of both; the "story of Ishtar" shows that one of our 
greatest and most recent discoveries in geology was well 
known to the Assyrians thousands of years ago. 

Chapter VI. — The Classic Cipher 55 

Sect. i. — The wand of Circe: — 

Appellative, figurative and symbolical modes of naming our 
Lord ; the sacrifice offered to the Healer by Socrates. 
Transposition of letters, one factor in the cipher — Two objec- 
tions, and the answers thereto — Remarks on the anagram. 



CONTENTS ix 

Page 
Sec. 2. — The magic of letters : — 

Transposition not sufficient in itself for the purpose desired. 
Metamorphosis, the second factor in the cipher; subdivided 
into Transmutation and Transformation. 
Transmutation, equivalent to Dialectical change ; its effect 
on the Greek vowels and consonants, with cipher illustrations. 
Transformation considered under two heads, viz. : Allotropic 
and Alloying changes ; what each of those means ; how ap- 
plied to Greek characters, with cipher illustrations. 
The Latin cipher ; it is based on the same factors, and is a 
close copy of the Greek one; examples and cipher illustrations. 
The Greek and Latin cipher in tabulated form. 
Remarks on the formation, simplicity, efficacy, antiquity and 
origin of the cipher. 

Chapter VII. — Keeping the words of promise to the ear yy 

Religious and personal matter in the poets' writings; topics em- 
braced by each of those; they occupy far the greater portion of 
their works — A partial list of poets who wrote for religious truth — 
The Jewish "Bible" and the Gentile "Books" — A serious charge, 
"Are not the poets often guilty of filthy and immoral writing?" 
No; and the reasons for this negative response — Suggestive re- 
marks on the method of drawing attention to the key-line and 
word-pictures — An important query regarding the proper transla- 
tion of the classics. 

Extracts illustrating how the Name was hidden and pointed 
out to readers : — 
Homer. I. Iliad, 1-53. The plot: through all of gallant war runs 
"God's design." 

The "Christian patriarch" strives to free "the Christian 
maid" ; and, when denied, invokes the aid of Him who 
made "the grand ethereal bow" a covenant between him- 
self and earth. 
Ovid. I. Amor. IV. The Bridegroom — "thy Spouse, O christian, 

is Jesus Christ." 

I. Amor. V. Corinna — "Mary, mother of God." 
Horace. I. Car. XIV. The Ship — "that prides in both His Name 

and pedigree." 

II. Car. XIII. The trave— "that falls advisedly upon the 
unoffending Master's head." 

Vergil. Eclogue II. Alexis— "the Lord's delight." 

Eclogue V. Daphnis— "the I WHO AM; the One True 
God." 
Aratus. Phaenom. The Life — "whose creatures we are." 

Chapter VIII. — Uttering the words of power 136 

Alleged paganism in the poetic invocations to Zeus and Apollo; 
influences of intent— A brief review — The different meanings at- 
tached by the vulgar and educated profane to Zeus and Apollo; 
the seventh meaning ("the Life," "the Light") was esoteric, and 
known only to the cult; immense advantages of those terms to 
the poets. 



CONTENTS 



Illustrative passages in connection with the Godhead : — 
Homer. Iliad. II. 412. The glory, power, majesty and effulgence 

of God. 
/Eschylus. Supp. 381. The providence, justice and consoling strength 

of the Most High. 
Euripides. Troad, 884. The omnipotence and inscrutable nature of 

the Almighty. 
Sophocles. Antig. 605. The power, providence, eternity and glory of 

the Lord. 
Solon. Apothegms. The judgment of God extends to the children 

and children's children of the wicked. 
Sophocles. CEd. Tyr. 609. The Unity of God. 

The faith and theological acumen of the Greek poets and sages — 
A question deserving thought, study and research, "May not 
a cryptic mode (similar to the Greek one) of writing the Name 
and religious truth have been practiced by those who wrote the 
Jewish testament and the sacred books of the Chaldeans, Egyp- 
tians, Persians, Hindoos and Chinese?" — Suggestive quotations 
from the last two sources. 

Illustrative passages bearing on the Promise, Coming and sur- 
roundings of the Messiah: — 
JEschylus. Again. 896. The Guardian of the folds; the Saviour; the 

only Begotten of God. 
Euripides. Iphig. in Aul. 964, and Troad, 470. The "Grand Design," 
and "the Good Man" in it, who would take up our hap- 
less lot. 
Aeschylus. Agam. 249. The Coming must be in time ; the Coming 

will be for all. 
Sophocles. Trachin. 144. When will the Son come? Not until Joseph 

the man-virgin and Mary his spouse appear on earth. 
Euripides. Hipp. 627. Mary, the immaculate and chosen vessel of the 
Almighty; Joseph, the guardian, artisan, and man-virgin — 
The poet's belief and reasons for belief in the celibacy of 
Joseph. 
Homer. Iliad. V. 381. For whom were other orbs passed by, earth 
selected and made that which it is? For whom was the 
Mars of elemental fire confined in the depths until a solid 
crust was formed? For whom was the Juno of dry land 
time and again submerged by the Hercules of geologic 
force? For man. And for whom was the world's load 
borne in after ages by the great, unknown, and self-ap- 
pointed end of all our woe? For man. And why did He 
suffer crucifixion "near the city's gate?" Because this 
man had an immortal soul. 
Illustrative passages affecting the lives, motives, aims and hopes 
of the cult : — 
Euripides. Supp. 238. Three classes of society, the rich, the poor, and 
the cult that yearned for higher things, were good citizens, 
but suffered persecution from those in power. 



CONTENTS 



Page 
Sophocles. CEd. Col. 607. Earth alters; so do men, their opinions, 
and their idols ; but the believers in One God change not, 
age not, die not. 
" Antig. 453. When and with whom originated the cipher 

mode of writing? No man knows. 
Philemon. Ex. incert. Comoed. 360. Did those, who probed all kinds 
of knowledge, pass the Godhead by? No; they who say 
so read their works with custom's eye. There are two 
ways in song, one for the just, another for the profane. 
If the reader does his part, he will find that the poet does 
his own. What is the reader's part? To search, to search, 
and still to search. And what is the poet's? To write the 
Name, and glorify the God who will die for sinners. 
Euripides. Hipp. 379. Purely secular knowledge, though useful, is 
brushed aside by poets for the greater pleasure of propa- 
gating the Word through learned discourse, keen contro- 
versy, innocent deception, and reverent speech regarding 
God. Each mode of expression is susceptible of two 
meanings ; one, and it the good, for the cult ; another, 
the grief and Lurden of the poets' lives, for the profane — 
but this latter would cease to exist if the Fullness of time 
were come. 

Frag. Rhad. Different poets have different styles of writ- 
ing the truth. The sublime or purely religious is preferred 
by some; a mixture of scientific with religious lore is liked 
by others; simple, homely language pleases a third set; a 
fourth delights in the obscurity and deceit of anagram- 
matical phrasing. 
Homer. Iliad IV. 155. The divine compact made "in the begin- 
ning" for man's sake, the compact that brought Christ to 
battle for Jew and Gentile, the compact trampled on by Jews 
when they received Him not; is that compact false? Christ 
has not come yet to pay his debt; but He will; and the 
price of His coming to those who would crucify Him will 
be their own downfall as a nation and the destruction of 
Jerusalem. 

Iliad I. 493. While the poet is wrapped in the clouds of 
thought, the goddess of design comes and prompts him to 
"honor the Son," to glorify Him, even though the world 
at large sees only Thetis (not design) and Zeus (not 
Homer's self), and foolishly thinks that the poet's real 
theme is the Trojan war. He yields to her pleadings, bows 
his head, and graves the Name — the name of Him who is 
immutable, true and perfect. 
Anagrammatical sentences ; the most conclusive proof of religious 
intent, but the greatest obstacle to be encountered in translating; 
suggestive remarks thereon— An illustrative example from 
Euripides. Hipp. 177. "Oh! Christ Jesus, come hither soon!"— 
Words of power that bear upon the two natures in Christ, 
His mission and teachings, sufferings and ascension. 



xii CONTENTS 

Page 

Chapter. IX. — Selections {Greek) 172 

Hcsiod, Works and Days. 1-201. 
Invocation — Attention is drawn to the picture word, and to the 
"Salem" which it builds — The Name, the name of Him who is the 
"Eternal Life," is graved in transposed characters and in straight 
ones — "How is the half greater than the whole ? What food, great 
food, resides in the mallow and asphodel?" The poet points out 
the answers to each question — The creation and formation of an 
anagram that reads two ways, "Adam named Eve" and "Eve 
tempted Adam" ; the story of our first parents, including the 
Promise — Five races of beings endowed with speech are enu- 
merated. 

1. The Golden or Angelical — "the first of all"; some of them grew 

pleased "with the daughters of the unjust," and begot "the 
giants, mighty men, men of renown, but arrogant" — The 
doom impressed by God upon those giants after death. 

2. The Silver or Adamic — "inferior to the Angelical race, but supe- 

rior to the one to come" — An interlude describing the prom- 
ised Child and his mother ; His short abode on earth, his 
sorrows, abnegation of will, submission to violence, and 
propounding the new law — "His own received him not." 

3. The Brazen or Antediluvian — despotic, lusting for war, wanting 

in hospitality, and filling the land with violence and wicked- 
ness — "Overwhelmed for their deeds in icy-cold and subter- 
raneous depths." 

4. The Heroic or Patriarchal — "observant more (than the preceding 

one) of what is just and good"; some perished at Troy, 
more at Thebes, others elsewhere — Differing from them, and 
removed from them, was "the life of his time, the father of 
a people"; a pen picture of Abraham — Isles of the Blessed. 

5. The Iron or Post-patriarchal — features of the age (as mentioned 

by the poet) were incessant toil for the lower class, worldly 
cares for the middle one, debauchery for the upper class; 
the waning of hospitality, friendship, and the ties of kin- 
dred; and the notable increase of those features with each 
successive generation — The future destruction of the world 
is foretold, "when those, their temples streaked with gray, 
may reappear" — The further story of Christ is resumed, and 
a remarkable series of circumstances connected with his 
seizure and trial, the envy of scribes and perjury of wit- 
nesses, his resurrection and ascension, are predicted — Sor- 
row and care will still be left for men, "but the innate 
strength of evil will cease to be." 

Homer— Iliad XVIII. 369-617 198 

Design visits the poet, is cordially welcomed, and requested to 
state her mission — She tells the story : 

How she was wedded for weal or woe to Adam, "the man of other 
erring men," who handed down the tradition that a Son would 
yet be born who would be the Shiloh of patriarchs, a Saviour who 



CONTENTS xiii 

Page 
would bring the olive branch of peace to the world, who would be 
called Jesus in his infancy, and Jesus the Christ in his manhood — 
By the Great Design was He commissioned to battle with the Jews 
in Jerusalem ; by Glorious Design would He be welcomed in 
heaven after his death; but by the Immutable Design would He 
be left alone to bear the load of sorrow and anguish that had been 
impressed upon Urn — She goes on to tell how the Son would not 
come because the gentiles had parted Him from Mary, had for- 
gotten or put aside the belief enunciated in Eden and begotten of 
the Word spoken to the serpent, "She shall crush thy head" ; how 
this belief (and "a chosen people" in compensation) was regained 
by Abraham in return for "giving what was demanded of him" 
by God; how, when lamentations and prayers and offerings went 
up from every quarter to heaven, Moses was sent "with a multi- 
tude of people" to prepare the way of the Lord, and how the law- 
giver, "the worker of many plagues," died before Jericho was 
captured. 

She concludes by asking a complete suit of armor for the Son : 
the poet gladly complies and goes to work — He fashions "a mighty 
shield"; puts therein the pictorial emblems of heaven, earth and 
sea, sun, moon and stars ; and then graves in succession the 
names of Jesus; Christ; Mary; Joseph; Nazareth; Bethlehem; 
Canaan, Judah, Israel, the twelve tribes ; Alleluiah ! and Hosanna ! 
After commenting on the efficacy of this armor in guarding 
himself from the attacks of the world, the flesh and the devil, the 
poet hands his work to Design, who bears it off to the multitude 
of readers. 

Chapter X. — Selections (Latin) 234 

Vergil. 2Eneid II. 671-804: — 
Showing how the marvellous "Light" that enveloped the head of 
lulus and the subsequent "Light" that came from heaven, were 
of the same nature, were literally true, and warranted "the author" 
to say "Now, now, there is no stop * * * I give myself to 
thee, O Son, and boldly say 'I am a follower of thine' " — The 
flight (where the reader can see with his own eyes a pious son 
carrying Anchises on his back and grasping lulus with his right 
hand); the trysting spot is reached; the spouse is missing; the 
backward quest, and what was seen — The ghost of "Creusa," typi- 
cally magnified, appears; she explains her untimely end, predicts 
some things to come, and vanishes with the admonition "Maintain 
thy love for Him, the Son who claims us both" — He goes back to 
the trysting spot, picks up Anchises, and journeys towards "the 
mountain." 



Horace. I. Car. 5 252 

A vision of the immaculate Mary and helpless Child in the stable 
at Bethlehem. 

Horace. III. Car. 1 254 

The picture word is specified — The omnipotence of God; and yet 
(continues the poet) this God will come in human form to earth, 



CONTENTS 

Page 
will come as a supplicant for men's souls, and will labor by word 
and deed to bring all men into the one fold — The name of Him 
who is to come is graved twelve successive times from different 
portions of the picture word — "Jerusalem" is also pointed out in 
it, "where earth's High Lord and common Saviour would lay the 
groundworks" of his church, attended by the fears and threats of 
Scribes and Pharisees — The straight reading of the Name closes 
the ode. 



Ovid. Metamorpk. XV. Fab- X 260 

The desire of Augustus to deify himself and the dead Julius 
Caesar furnishes matter for the proem, and helps to fasten at- 
tention on the picture word — In this picture "the christian" sees the 
"cross," "hammer" and "spikes" prepared for the High Priest 
whose Name (with suggestive comments) is marked eight suc- 
cessive times from various portions of the word — A list of signs 
attending the Crucifixion is enumerated — "The author" points out 
in expressive language the anagram in his picture : it reads 
"Christ Jesus is coming" — He proceeds to tell how the Saviour's 
coming is close at hand; how, after his ascension, He will be 
worshipped on earth ; and how each christian, to avenge His death 
and be worthy of His name, should bear patiently the crosses of 
this life — Having glorified "the great Name" that fills his picture, 
he goes on to tell how Christ would preach peace, equity, morality 
and justice, would impress the same by his own example, would 
establish his church, and remain on earth until "He has made 
the figures of his years the same" — One other combination is 
graved; and having thus given to God what is God's, the poet 
concludes by giving to Caesar what's Caesar's — and gives it with 
a will ! 



CHAPTER I. 



A SKETCH OF GREEK PAGANISM. 



From the Deluge to Babel and the dispersion of mankind 
was but a short hundred years, and yet it witnessed a series of 
rapid and surprising changes, such as no other century has ever 
seen. Its dawn revealed the regions around Ararat as a bewil- 
dering waste of waters, mud, gravel, sand and boulders : its close 
looked upon smiling hills and fertile plains, upon fields of rice, 
beans, wheat and barley, upon meadows carpeted with flowers, 
and upon groves gleaming with the apple, orange, cherry, fig, 
olive, and countless other fruits. 

Its dawn beheld the human survivors of the Flood, and 
counted them as eight : its close could number men and women 
by thousands upon thousands.- It opened with peace; with one- 
ness of race, language, faith; and with good, will between God 
and man : it ended with ominous signs of strife, with ethnic and 
linguistic differences, and with an estrangement between the Cre- 
ator and His creatures that culminated in false and idolatrous 
forms of religious worship. Its rising was remarkable; its set- 
ting even more so, for around that Babel of yesterday are cen- 
tred the great unexplored remainders of race, color, facial char- 
acteristics, language and religion, that have puzzled and eluded 
the inquirers of to-day. 

Balked in their design of building a city and a town, and of 
making their name famous in the land of Shinar, the families of 
Noah were confounded in their tongues, as Scripture tells us, and 
scattered abroad upon the face of all countries. Let us follow 
the fortunes of Japheth, in whom we are particularly interested. 
"The sons of Japheth ; Gomer and Magog, and Madoc, 

and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 

And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and 

Togarmah. 

And the sons of Javan ; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, 

and Dodanim. 

By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their 

lands ; every one after his tongue, after their families, in 

their nations." — Gen. x : 2-5. 



2 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

In these "isles of the Gentiles," which embraced the coast 
lines of western Asia, southern Europe, and the islands of the 
Mediterranean, arose a people who spoke and wrote in the Greek 
tongue; who founded one of the greatest and (next to Rome) 
one of the most extensive empires of antiquity ; who distinguished 
themselves in arts, science, literature and civilization ; and who 
sent forth in greater numbers than any other nation, ancient 
or modern, men pre-eminent for poetry, painting, sculpture, phi- 
losophy, rhetoric and eloquence. 

In the nebulous beginning of their race was formulated a 
system of religious worship that maintained its ground while 
Greece held sway, and for centuries afterwards while the world 
was dominated by Rome, since — owing to the common origin of 
both peoples — the deities of Greece and Rome were identical in all 
respects, allowing for an occasional slight difference as to name. 
The gods were many and varied, but ever distinctly individual, 
and sharply defined in points of age and precedency, place, rank 
and influence. 

To begin with, there was a number of deities, always limited 
to seven, and named as Chaos, "the first of all" — Gaea — Eros — 
Nox — Erebus — Aether — Hemera. While these were the oldest 
and most recondite of the gods, they were seldom if ever, unless 
in the case of Gaea and Eros, invoked, offered sacrifice, or hon- 
ored with temples ; and the multitude, while recognizing, looked 
upon them as incomprehensible, shadowy, and remote divinities 
who solicited reverence and worship rather from the priests and 
philosophers than from itself. Next to these, in point of age, 
came Uranus and Pontus, the children of Gaea, while still wedded 
to herself — the Titans, Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires, born of 
Uranus and Gaea — Aphrodite, the Giants and the Nymphs, dating 
from the time when the Titan Kronos wielded the scythe against 
Uranus, his sire — Moros, Ker, Thanatos, and many another 
dread and remorseless child of Nox — and Nereus, Thaumas, 
Phorcys, Ceto, Eurybia, all descended from the union of Pontus 
and Gaea. Then came, more or less cotemporary and coter- 
minous, Iris and the Harpies — the Graiae and the Gorgons — 
and the Titan born, chief among whom were Styx, Helios, 
Selene, Eos, Perses and Asterie (with their only begotten child, 
Hecate), Leto, Atlas, Prometheus, and those sprung from Kro- 
nos, namely, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, and 
Zeus. Next to these, and in close succession, we find on the 
Pontus branch of the genealogical tree, Pegasus and Chrysaor, 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 3 

the offspring of the Gorgon — Geryon — Echidna, with her chil- 
dren, Cerberus, Chimaera, and the Sphinx; and on the Titan 
branch, Athena — the Graces — Muses — Persephone — Apollo — Ar- 
temis — Hebe — Ares — Hermes — and Bacchus, all of them born 
of Zeus : and Hephaestus, born of Hera. And after these comes 
a number of minor gods and goddesses, varied in character and 
functions, and numerous as leaves in Vallambrosa. 

Another division of the divinities has reference to place; 
and we find deities of heaven, air, water, land, and of the lower 
world. Uranus, Helios, Selene, Eos, Zeus, etc., are instances 
of the first; Iris, the Harpies, and the Winds of the second; 
Oceanus, Poseidon, Nereus, and Pontus of the third ; Gaea, 
Bacchus, and Hephaestus of the fourth; Hades, Persephone 
and Cerberus of the fifth; and in the lowest depths of earth 
are the Titans, guarded by the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires. 
Not all of them, however, were limited as to station. Zeus and 
most of the celestials could visit and hold communication with 
the terrestrial and marine deities, and vice versa; Hera could 
penetrate into the lower regions, and Thetis could mount to 
Olympus; Hephaestus could leave Lemnos to attend the ban- 
quets of the gods, and Hermes could conduct the buried dead 
for judgment across the Styx : all the gods could visit Oceanus, 
and Plecate had the entree of heaven, earth, and hades. 

Still a third division — and, like the preceding, more Roman 
than Greek in character — was that into Greater and Lesser gods 
(Dii Ma jorum Gentium and Dii Minorum Gentium). Twelve of 
the former — Zeus (Jupiter), Apollon (Apollo), Hermes (Mer- 
cury), Poseidon (Neptune), Ares (Mars), and Hephaestus 
(Vulcan), with Hera (Juno), Athena (Minerva), Aphrodite 
(Venus), Artemis (Diana), Demeter (Ceres), and Hestia 
(Vesta) — called the Dii Consent es, constituted the council of 
Zeus, when matters of general interest to the world were to 
be resolved on, and were the real nuclei around which revolved 
the religious aspirations of the Greek and Roman. The reason 
is evident. All that immediately concerns the State, the City, 
and the Individual, was centred in these Consentes, seeing that 
they represented, respectively, life and well-being, light, song and 
music, learning and eloquence, navigation and commerce, con- 
quest and glory, and every domestic trade requiring fire and 
furnace ; together with the land of their birth and the sanctity 
of the marriage tie, the wholesome restraints of law and order, 
the joys of love, the pleasures of the chase, the peace of agri- 
culture, and the happiness of home. 



4 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

It has been said that the Greeks regarded their deities not 
as actual gods, but as mere agencies of an unknown and name- 
less Being, or of Nature. While this is undoubtedly true of 
the few, it is certainly not correct of the many. The tests of 
deification are the building of temples, offering sacrifices, and 
praying to the pictured or sculptured images of objects or con- 
ceptions already idolized in mind. The Greeks did all these ; 
and we have no reason for supposing that the multitude built 
and sacrificed and prayed with a mental reservation. Why should 
it? It knew no other religion than its own; and if it did happen 
to hear of an Osiris or a Bel, a Mazda or an Indra, how did 
they differ from its own Zeus? These also had wives and chil- 
dren, wars and quarrels, passions, preferences celestial and ter- 
restrial ; and in comparison with these Eastern divinities, its 
own gods looked brighter, cleaner, more humane, and less dif- 
ficult of comprehension. And again, why should it? It had been 
born, brought up, educated and trained in the worship of Olym- 
pian gods ; so had its fathers and forefathers ; the most learned 
of the land spoke well of the gods, the priests officiated in their 
service, and judges, statesmen, nobles and rulers paid all due 
reverence at their shrines. No; the Greek was as proud of his 
language as of his country, of his religion as of either; and 
while his armies might conquer and his philosophers visit the 
nations of the East, his own patriotism, speech and worship re- 
mained unaltered. There was no grafting on, as was the case 
with Zoroastrianism and Magism, no wholesale transference as 
when Rome accepted the entire Greek Pantheon. The original 
elements of belief were as intact and vigorous in the time of 
Augustus Caesar as when Leonidas sacrificed himself for his 
altars and firesides, or when Homer flourished and wrote of an 
angry Apollo who stirred up dissension between Atrides, king 
of men, and Achilles, bravest of the Greeks. 

It could scarcely be otherwise. The invention and forma- 
tion of the Theogony betray a masterhand groping — not blindly, 
but with restraint — after Truth of some kind ; piecing it out 
bit by bit ; dressing each piece in multicolored garments ; and 
then holding it up for inspection to dazzle, it may be, the igno- 
rant and careless, or to excite doubt and inquiry among the edu- 
cated and reasoning. Not one of the entire Pantheon is pic- 
tured with oil the attributes of a god ; nor one with all the vile 
instincts that render man a beast. Each is a mysterious com- 
pound of the heavenly and terrene — of strength and weakness, 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 5 

patience and passion, love and hate, good and ill : each, in brief, 
is ideal humanity and humanity as it ordinarily is. Particularly 
so is this the case with Zeus, the head of the Pantheon; and 
the following analysis of "the Father of the gods," taken from 
Thirl wall's "History of Greece," furnishes an excellent illustration 
of that which Zeus was intended to represent, namely, Man as 
he should be, with much of the angel, yet a little of the clay : 

"The Olympian deities are assembled round Zeus as his 
family, in which he maintains the mild dignity of a patriarchal 
king. He assigns their several provinces, and controls their 
authority. Their combined efforts cannot give the slightest shock 
to his power, nor retard the execution of his will ; and hence 
their waywardness, even when it incurs his rebuke, cannot ruffle 
the inward serenity of his soul. The tremendous nod, where- 
with he confirms his decrees, can neither be revoked nor frus- 
trated. As his might is irresistible, so is his wisdom unsearch- 
able. He holds the golden balance in which are poised the des- 
tinies of nations and of men ; from the two vessels that stand 
at his threshold he draws the good and evil gifts that alternately 
sweeten and embitter mortal existence. The eternal order of 
things, the ground of the immutable succession of events, is 
his, and therefore he himself submits to it. Human laws derive 
their sanction from his ordinance; earthly kings receive their 
sceptre from his hand ; he is the guardian of social right ; he 
watches over the fulfilment of contracts, the observance of 
oaths ; he punishes treachery, arrogance, and cruelty. The 
stranger and the suppliant are under his peculiar protection ; 
the fence that encloses the family dwelling is in his keeping; he 
avenges the denial and the abuse of hospitality. Yet even this 
greatest and most glorious of beings, as he is called, is subject, 
like the other gods, to passion and frailty. For, though secure 
from dissolution, though surpassingly beautiful and strong, and 
warmed with a purer blood than fills the veins of men, their 
heavenly frames are not insensible to pleasure and pain; they 
need the refreshment of ambrosial food, and inhale a grateful 
savor from the sacrifices of their worshipers. Their other af- 
fections correspond to the grossness of these animal appetites. 
Capricious love and hatred, anger and jealousy, often disturb 
the calm of their bosoms ; the peace of the Olympian state might 
be broken by factions, and even by conspiracies formed against 
its chief. He himself cannot keep perfectly aloof from their 
quarrels; he occasionally wavers in his purpose, is overruled by 



6 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

artifice, blinded by desires, and hurried by resentment into un- 
seemly violence. The relation in which he stands to Fate is not 
uniformly represented in the Homeric poems, and probably the 
poet had not formed a distinct notion of it. Fate is generally de- 
scribed as emanating from his will, but sometimes he appears to 
be no more than the minister of a stern necessity, which he wishes 
in vain to elude." 

A suffering Christ endears Him more to us than if He had 
visibly proved the Godhead when scourged, spat upon, and cru- 
cified. What the "humanity" of our Lord is to Christians, the 
"human" qualities of their deities were to Pagans — a subject 
for meditation and reflection, puzzling, it is true, and wondrous, 
but, withal, exceedingly attractive and endearing. That the gods 
should thus, while offering an excuse for human frailty, still serve 
as exemplars of a higher life, affords much food for thought as to 
the purport and design of those who framed the Theogony, and 
strengthens the belief, already expressed, that it was formulated 
by men who believed in and worshiped a Supreme Being, but 
were overawed by an idol-loving populace that clamored and 
threatened for strange gods. Forced to yield, they compounded 
with conscience, gave hostages to fortune, and systematized a 
form of religion that persistently threw the shadow of Oneness 
over the pantheon, and resisted the attempts at self-deification 
on the part of rulers, while at the same time it inculcated 
the love of country, respect for law and order, the observance 
of morality and of social rights, and judgment after death for 
all men, irrespective of rank or wealth, of integrity or vicious- 
ness. If not religion, then, in the true sense of the word, it was 
the milk of religion, lapped by the many, set for cream by the 
few, churned by the sceptic, and exchanged for meat by the in- 
quirer who could not be baffled or daunted when searching, let us 
say, for the Holy Grail of those days. 

Greek paganism, it must be admitted, took firm root from 
the first, and flourished like a green bay-tree. It sprouted when 
Hellen — son of that Deucalion who survived the Flood, and in 
whose name, like that of Japheth's, can be traced the elements 
of "extent" (s'Xov) and of "brightness" ( HXyj ) — founded the 
Greek race ; it grew with the sons of Hellen, and opposed the 
Aeolic Salmoneus when his impious attempt at self-deification 
brought fire from Zeus upon him and upon his city ; it fought 
with Adrastus for dominion, with the Epigoni for revenge, and 
at Troy for outraged hospitality ; it encouraged Iphitus to pro- 



IN HOMER, HESrOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 7 

claim a universal season of peace once every four years while 
the Olympic games were in operation; it sided with Draco and 
Solon in their efforts at legislation, and kindled the Sacred War 
in defense of pilgrims' rights; it fought for fatherland at Mar- 
athon, Salamis, Plataea, and made death palatable at Thermo- 
pylae; it sighed over internecine quarrels and the long Pelo- 
ponessian War; it followed Alexander to victory, and then 
did the rival gods of Egypt and of Persia, of Babylon and of 
India, hear for the first time the mystic ekekeul k~kekei>\ that re- 
sounded from Grecian throats. And when Greece itself fell 
upon evil days and received the death blow from Mummius, its 
gods were still triumphant. Perched upon Roman banners, they 
forced their way from Euphrates to the Tagus, from Carthage 
to Britain, and the deities of all subjugated countries were as 
tributary to Zeus as the countries themselves were to Rome — 
for where the eagle flew, there screamed the bird of Olympian 
Jove. 

Yet in this its hour of greatest triumph a cloud, big with 
the doom of Paganism, was gathering in the East. A child had 
been born in Bethlehem of Judaea, and His name was Jesus. 
Brought up among the only people who had been openly trained 
from Abraham's days in the worship of a One True God, He 
grew to man's estate and began that divine mission so familiar 
to every reader. He came unto His own, as Holy Writ words 
it, and, though in Him were fulfilled all the conditions of past 
prophecies, His own received Him not — they crucified Him. 

But previous to His death, He had gathered around Him 
a chosen knot of disciples specially instructed and commissioned 
to carry on the task which He began, and to establish the church 
which He founded. 

In the closing years of Tiberius commenced the struggle 
between Christianity and Paganism — a struggle that, humanly re- 
garded, was utterly disproportioned in all respects. It was twelve 
men against the millions, poverty against wealth, plain rusticity 
against subtle philosophy, unvarnished speech against polished 
eloquence; it was a slave against the mistress of the world, the 
scoff of nations against Rome, and "the Crucified" of that scoff 
against Olympian Zeus! 

But still, through an Almighty Providence, Christianity 
throve and waxed strong from the beginning. The Gospel that 
it preached — One Supreme Being and a Christ that had come, 
love of God even to self-abandonment, charity that recognizes 



8 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

no distinctions, and a blameless life — was not an alarming one 
at first to the temporal interests of those in power, who looked 
upon it as a strange form of religious enthusiasm that would die 
out of itself, and the more quickly if left unnoticed. The con- 
sequence was that the new doctrine, encountering at the outset 
no special opposition save from the Jewish priests, met with 
astonishing success. Peter converted three thousand at his first 
preaching, and five thousand at another: "And the word of 
God increased, and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusa- 
lem greatly ; and a great company of the priests were obedient to 
the faith"; and again we read (Acts ix:3i), "Then had the 
churches rest throughout all Judaea, and Galilee, and Samaria, 
and were edified: and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in 
the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." In less than 
thirty years from the Crucifixion the Gospel had been preached 
in Rome, Greece, Asia Minor, Armenia, Arabia, Persia, Scythia, 
Syria, Mesopotamia, Phrygia, and Central Asia; and in thirty 
more so numerous were the Christians in those lands, as also in 
Gaul, Spain, Germany, Egypt, Northern Africa, and India, that 
Pliny the younger, when reporting of them from his Pontic 
province, wrote thus: "Great are their numbers, of both sexes, 
of every age, and of every rank of life. The fields, towns and 
villages swarm with them. As for our own gods, their temples 
are deserted, and their festivals discontinued." 

Not very long, however, did this peaceful and prosperous 
order of things continue. The strict piety and blameless life 
that had at first shamed the pagan mob to tolerance grew ex- 
asperating when compared with its own loose creed and looser 
morals ; the conscientious exclusiveness displayed by Christian 
parents in matters relating to private and public amusements, 
social gatherings, affiliations, and the marriage tie, estranged 
gradually the sympathies and influence of those who, living and 
moving in the same circle of society, adhered to the old worship ; 
the personal property and real estate of the wealthy converts 
attracted the greed of local magnates and judicial officers; their 
ever increasing numbers, with the necessary consequences of 
diminished attendance and diminished offerings at the altars of 
the gods, roused the priests to action through fear lest the 
national religion should be subverted. Added to all these were 
the specious misrepresentations and atrocious falsehoods that 
can be and ever have been promulgated regarding what is true 
and good, and the insidious attacks of every sceptic who, be- 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 9 

lieving in nothing, gloated over religion as a proper field for 
philosophical and rhetorical display. 

In the reign of Nero did persecution commence; and from 
his time to that of Constantine — a period of nearly two hundred 
and fifty years — did Pagandom, with some few and brief inter- 
missions, enjoy the savage satisfaction of testing Christians in 
the two most salient tenets of their faith, namely, self-abandon- 
ment for God, and charity even to their Pagan torturers. It is 
grewsome reading, the history of those days, and furnishes con- 
vincing evidence that the noblest as well as the vilest traits of 
man are exhibited on a large scale only when religious intolerance 
and the right to worship are brought into antagonism. For up- 
wards of two centuries Rome, a highly civilized monarchy, con- 
centrated its attention on inventing numberless forms of hellish 
cruelties against a section of its subjects — a moral, law-abiding 
section that never flinched from its duties as citizens or soldiers 
of the Empire^-because Rome believed in Pagan gods; for the 
same length of time, and because of their belief in One True God, 
did those Christian subjects lay down their lives in ones and 
scores, in hundreds and thousands, without sedition or revolt, 
and in the face of tortures that make the blood run cold. Be- 
heading, crucifixion, the rack, and burning at the stake were 
resorted to; but these punishments are mild in comparison with 
others that we read of. Men and women were scourged till their 
very entrails were laid bare; their flesh was scraped off and 
molten lead poured upon the raw and quivering surface; they 
were exposed in the arena to be devoured by lions., or disguised 
in the skins of beasts to be worried and mangled by the dogs, or 
enveloped in nets to be gored by bulls ; covered with pitch or wax 
from head to foot, and set on fire, they were stationed as living 
torches to light up the squares and public gardens ; their flesh was 
nipped bit by bit with red-hot pincers, or their heads were scalped 
and burning embers placed upon them; their naked bodies were 
scarified with knives, rubbed over with salt and pepper, and then 
slowly roasted upon gridirons. 

It was a long day and a cruel one to test men's souls; and 
thousands, it may be, turned aside through fear, while other 
thousands prayed with the lip to Zeus and with the heart to 
Christ. But still, despite this hell let loose, the great majority of 
Christians clung to the faith, and braved sword and fire, scourg- 
ing and the lions, braved any and every form of death for sake 
of Him who died upon the cross. In one day at Lyons, in Gaul, 



io THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

19,000 men, exclusive of women and children, are said to have 
perished for their religion; and, later on, 10,000 more were 
massacred for the same cause at Antandrus in Phrygia. Never 
before or since was such a spectacle beheld as when Maximianus, 
marching against the barbarians, halted his forces at Geneva and 
commanded the Theban Legion — over 6,000 strong — to sacrifice to 
the gods. Every one of them was a tried veteran and a true be- 
liever. "We fight the enemy, but Christians we remain !" was 
their reply. To a man were they hewn down by their fellow- 
soldiers, slain unresistingly for the faith that was in them. 

Peace and victory came at last. The lust for human blood 
began to pall, and the sublime heroism of patient suffering ex- 
torted admiration from the tired hands of the persecuting crowd. 
Rome commenced to look aghast at the carnage of its making: 
ten times had it ordered every province of the vast empire to 
flow with loyal blood; and still it seemed as if it was but sowing 
dragons' teeth, since for every martyr there sprang a hundred 
converts ready, almost anxious, to take his place and share his 
fate. Statesmen began to speculate on the possible and probable: 
barbarians were threatening the Empire from the north and east, 
and scarce a year passed by without new Caesars starting up in 
each most powerful province. What if the Christians, goaded by 
persecution, should throw in their lot with either the foreign 
enemy or the domestic foe ? The prospect was not pleasing ; and 
visions of a Rome deluged with blood, and that not Christian 
blood, floated before the mind. Added to all these inhibitory 
incentives was the fierce light of truth reflected from the writings 
— "apologies," as they were called — of men like Aristides, Justin, 
Athenagoras, Theophilus, Irenaeus, Clement, Tertullian, Origen, 
and others, who vigorously maintained the civil and religious 
rights of Christians, refuted the subtle charges and objections of 
sceptical philosophers, and cleared away the lies and gross mis- 
conceptions that had obfuscated and exasperated the masses of 
the people. 

With Constantine came peace from persecution, and the 
decay of Paganism. Constantine, a most worldly wise if not the 
best of rulers, did not dare to stir up the smoldering embers of 
Paganism during his long reign of thirty-one years ; not till he 
had done away with all competitors and become sole emperor 
did he openly profess the true faith ; and not till he was on his 
death-bed, according to some authorities, did he deem it wise to 
be baptized. His sons and successors were by no means shining 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. n 

lights of religion or of morals, and exhibited the prudence of 
their sire by persecuting the Pagans for their wealth, and con- 
ciliating them by upholding Arianism against orthodoxy. With 
Julian came a spasmodic revival of the Olympian gods, their 
ceremonials, and their worship; but their doom was sealed, and 
the apostate must have had a vision of the future when, dying 
on the plains, he cried to heaven, "Thou hast conquered, Gali- 
lean !" 

Greek Paganism was dead. For upwards of twenty cen- 
turies had it ruled two mighty nations, guided their people, in- 
fluenced their laws, shaped their morals, and led their armies to 
the scene of war. It seemed a religion for all time; but when 
Zeus beheld "the Star of the East," the star which the Magi saw 
and followed to Bethlehem, he bethought him of the dark pro- 
phecy of Prometheus, and felt that his day was running short. 
Not without a struggle did he yield. For two hundred and fifty 
years he fought the fight, and wielded for ruthless destruction 
the thunders and lightnings at his beck ; for another fifty years 
he tried expediency, temporizing, and heretical dissensions; baf- 
fled at every point, he made one final effort, discarded all half 
measures, flung once more the eagle to the breeze, and died with 
Julian on the field of battle. 



THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



CHAPTER II. 

WAS PAGANISM THE RELIGION OF THE CULTURED? 

It is generally conceded that religion, even the faith that men 
profess, is regarded in a different light by the many and by the 
few; to the former, belief supplies the want of knowledge, the 
lack of inquiry, and the strong desire that would interfere with 
worldly pursuits and gain; to the latter, religion is a problem 
that must be solved in some way before they can find rest. If 
in these our days we find some who, in the light of Christianity 
and its Divine founder, still declare the problem to be insolvable, 
or indeterminate, or negatively determinate, or positively solvable, 
ought we to feel surprised to find a few men in Pagan days search- 
ing for the solution of the same problem? This surprise is les- 
sened according as we study the nature of the problem, its condi- 
tions, and the intelligence brought to bear upon its solution. 

"The tie that binds" is not one peculiar to any race or cen- 
tury ; it is part and parcel of the human being, as much so as the 
life within him, or the reason given to him, or the natural cravings 
for subsistence and for light. "Among all men," says Xenophon, 
"it is customary from the first to pay reverence to the gods"; 
and the same sentiment is repeated more distinctively by Cicero, 
"Of all animals there is none save man that has any knowledge 
of God : and among men themselves there is no race so un- 
civilized or savage that does not recognize the necessity for this 
knowledge, even though it be ignorant of the true nature of God. 
The inference is that whosoever has any cognizance or knowledge 
of his own being must acknowledge God." 

As for the comparative conditions of the problem then and 
now, they are in proportion to the relative merits of Paganism 
and Christianity. No thinker of the ordinary or most advanced 
type, Christian or otherwise, can be found in our day prepared 
or willing to claim preference for the former ; if pressed for his 
reasons, he would probably say that belief in Pagan gods was an 
insult to intelligence ; and the veriest sceptic would admit that if 
there were a God at all, He should be one. Were there no acute 
minds in ancient Greece and Rome to feel insulted by polytheism? 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 13 

No thinkers? No men of intellect? Who then conceived and 
transferred the Iliad, Theogony, and tragedies to parchment? Or 
the Olympian Zeus and Cnidian Aphrodite to gold, ivory, and 
marble? Or the Venus Anadyomene to canvass? Or the sub- 
lime and silent earnestness of architecture to stone? Whose 
names are synonyms for geometry, inductive reasoning, and 
logic? Who thought out the problem of being, probed it to the 
quick, and discussed it in every possible mode and form? Who 
formulated the fundamentals of astronomy, geodesy, geology, 
zoology, music, light, heat, sound, and countless other branches 
of knowledge requiring deep reflection, the closest reasoning, and 
indefatigable research? If the answer be — as it must be, "the 
Greeks," does it seem reasonable, then, to infer that, while pon- 
dering over every subject, they neglected religion; that, while 
tracing each branch to its beginning, they left the pantheon as it 
was ; that, while refusing to believe in anything which was not 
dialectically true, they swallowed polytheism with all its manifest 
incongruities and absurdities? To accept such inferences, from 
this point of view, is certainly more difficult than to deny them. 
To accept them at all, we must fall back on certain alleged errors 
of omission and commission, such as (1) specific neglect in men- 
tioning a One Supreme Being, and (2) professed regard and 
esteem for the gods of the pantheon. 

That the first charge is without foundation can be shown best 
by going back to the musty past of time, and quoting the expres- 
sions handed down from age to age: 

"I am the all that was, and is, and will be." — Inscrip- 
tion on an ancient temple at Sais. 

"One is the self-begotten ; all things derived from this 
same One were created ; no other is there save the Almighty 
King." — Orpheus. 

"Easily can God, when willing and far off, save man." — 
Homer (Odyss. 111:231). 

"God hears us ever from afar." — Aeschylus (Eumenid. 
297). 

"If the doer hopes to deceive God in any way, he is mis- 
taken." — Pindar (Olymp. I: 102). 

"For God, if He is really God, is all-sufficient in Him- 
self." — Euripides (Her. Fur. 1345). 

"The Godhead is so great and of such a nature as to see 
and hear all things, to be present everywhere, and to attend to 
all things at once." — Xenophon (Memorab. 1: 4). 



i 4 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

"He who arranges and maintains the entire universe, 
in which all things are beautiful and good, and whole and 
sound in their constituent parts, and who keeps it imperish- 
able and accurately performing its functions quicker than 
thought, — He, in the doing of those mighty works, is seen 
by us, but in the ordering of them is unseen." — Xenophon 
(Memorab. iv: 3). 

"In word and deed, then, God is all that is abso- 
lutely one and true." — Plato (Repub. II: 21). 

"God extends from eternity to eternity." — Aristotle 
(Strobaeus, Eclog. Phys. 1:86). 

"God is blessed and happy from nothing external, but 
Himself from Himself." — Aristotle (De Repub. vii : 1). 

"It is proper to ponder over these things with regard to 
God, who is verily the perfection of power, existence and 
goodness." — Aristotle (De Mundo, 6). 

"Tell me what thou understandest by God? The One 
who sees all things, and is Himself unseen." — Philemon. 

"All places are a temple for the Divine Word ; for the 
mind it is that converses with God." — Menander (Arreph. 6). 
"There is verily a God who hears and sees whate'er we 
do." — Plautus (Capt. 11:2.63). 

"Nothing is superior to God; by Him, then, must the 
world be ruled. To nought of nature, then, is God obedient 
or subject; therefore, He rules all nature." — Cicero (Nat. 
Deor. II : 30). 

"God looks not at full hands, but at pure ones." — 
Publius Syrus. 

There is, surely, no uncertain ring about these declarations, 
no atheistical blasphemies, no sceptical euphemisms, no philo- 
sophical materialism or naturalism ! Believing, then, in One God, 
they could not be polytheists ; and believing in a God who was 
wisdom, truth, goodness, all-sufficient in Himself, and from 
eternity to eternity, it would be insulting to their intelligence to 
pin their faith on a Zeus, Apollo, or any other of the pantheon 
who was notably credited with a beginning as to existence, with 
cravings for external objects, and with numerous frailties re- 
flecting on morality, veracity, and prescience. 

Neither in Greece nor Rome was there any interdict placed 
upon a belief in a Supreme Being ; and while to the multitude 
He represented an unknown god, and to the educated sceptic but 
another god, there was always a certain number of the literati 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 15 

who regarded Him as we do — as the One True God, gifted with 
omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, with infinite justice, 
goodness, mercy and existence, the Divine Author and Preserver 
of all things. Since by rulers and statesmen — by every one, in 
short, outside the number mentioned — such a belief was looked 
upon as the harmless and intellectual meandering of speculative 
philosophy, it was not only permissible to entertain it, but even 
to teach it in the schools, provided always that the gods of the 
Pantheon were not openly and persistently decried and disre- 
spected. Hence it is that we find the idea of a Supreme Being 
notably permeating all the philosophies from the time of Thales 
to the days of Aristotle, Epicurus, and Zeno; and that it con- 
tinued so to the time of Christ is evidenced by the words of 
Paul when, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, he said : 
"Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too 
superstitious. For passing by and seeing your idols, I found an 
altar also on which was written, 'To the Unknown God/ 
Whom, therefore, you worship, without knowing it, him I preach 
to you." — (Acts xvii : 22-23.) 

The second charge — speaking with respect and reverence of 
the gods — is true, but misleading. In the first place, respect and 
reverence do not imply worship; if they did, parents, superiors 
and the ruling powers would be objects of worship in our own 
day. In the next place, what did these gods represent to the 
educated? The most cursory reading of the classics tends to 
show a marked and constant distinction between 6 %zoq and deus 
and the 01 6so( and dii: the former is restricted, as a rule, to the 
Supreme Being ; the latter embraces all or some of the following : 

1. The astronomical bodies. 

2. The material, chemical and physical forces of nature. 

3. The influences of air, land and water. 

4. Vital and mental energies. 

All these, as rulers, each in its own sphere — just as the sun 
and moon are rulers of day and night — were termed "gods," and 
the equivalence of "gods" and "rulers" is frequently marked in 
Scripture; all these were the handiwork of God; and if the 
Creator himself "saw everything that he had made: and behold, 
it was very good," should not these works and influences be 
held in respect and reverence by man ? Poetry answers back : 
"Spirit! whose life-sustaining presence fills 

Air, ocean, central depths by man untried, 

Thou for thy worshipers hast sanctified 



1 6 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

All place, all time ! The silence of the hills 
Breathes veneration ; founts and choral rills 
Of Thee murmuring; to its inmost glade 
The living forest with Thy whisper thrills, 
And there is holiness in every shade." 
While admiring nature's works, however, they never wor- 
shiped them. As well might we accuse Byron of sun-worship 
for saying : 

"Thou material God ! 
And representative of the unknown — 
Who chose thee for his shadow ! Thou chief star, 
Centre of many stars ! which mak'st our earth 
Endurable, and temperest the hues 
And hearts of all who walk within thy rays ! 
Sire of the seasons ! Monarch of the climes, 
And those who dwell in them !" 
Did Maturin adore the moon? And yet he wrote: 
"My own loved light, 
That every soft and solemn spirit worships, 
That lovers love so well — strange joy is thine, 
Whose influence o'er all tides of soul hath power." 
Is there worship in these lines of Young? 

"Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne, 
In rayless majesty, now stretches forth 
Her leaden sceptre o'er a slumb'ring world." 
The best modern poets are impassioned to a degree when ad- 
dressing the agencies and influences of nature — so impassioned, 
indeed, that, had they lived in Pagan clays, the charge of dce^s-a 
could never have been brought against them ! Do we associate 
them with polytheism? No; it is, we say, but the poetry of re- 
ligion. Why, then, should we discriminate against the earlier 
poets? Theirs, too, was intelligence; theirs, too, the divine af- 
flatus; theirs, a belief in One Supreme Being, and theirs was 
the same impelling desire to praise His glorious works, and to 
tell what they knew of them in poetic language. 

But, it may be objected, the sentiment of worship does not 
break out so much in an individual sense as it does in a collective 
one, since it is the 6t 0so! as a class that are lauded, esteemed, 
and spoken of in terms that imply a respect closely bordering on 
worship. Yes; but, as already noticed, respect, however great, 
is not worship ; and in the vast majority of instances, allusions 
to "the gods" are more admonitory than reverential, breathe of 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 17 

prudence rather than esteem, and, as a whole, inspire readers with 
the mingled sentiment conveyed in Shakespeare's lines : 

"Kings are earth's gods : in vice their law's their will ; 
And if Jove stray, who dares say, Jove doth ill." 

The poet has hit the mark squarely; for "the gods," taken 
collectively, are no more or less than "earth's gods," and a proper 
rendering of the Greek and Latin poets (as explained later on) 
furnishes abundant and conclusive proof of the fact. Why not 
Man be a god as well as those agencies already mentioned? He, 
like the others, is a creation of the Most High, is possessed of 
force, and has influence; he even transcends the others, since he 
alone of all creations has been made "in the image of God," has 
mental force, than which there is none greater, and wields do- 
minion over things of air, earth and water. If moderns do not 
hesitate at "the lord of creation," why should the ancients falter 
at "a god"? The phrases are synonymous, since each denotes 
the authority conferred upon him in the garden "over the fish 
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living 
thing that moveth upon the earth." 

That there is nothing really irreligious in the appellation, as 
applied to man, is shown in Exodus iv: 16, where the Lord tells 
Moses that Aaron "shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and 
he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou 
shalt be to him instead of a god" ; and again Exodus vii : 1, "And 
the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to 
Pharaoh" ; and still more notably in Exodus xxii : 28, "Thou 
shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people" ; and 
in Psalm lxxxii : 1, 6, 7: 

"God standeth in the congregation of the mighty ; he 

judgeth among the gods." 

"I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children 

of the Most High." 

"But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the 

princes." 

In this sense of "ruler" was the phrase applied to man by the 
poets. But not to all men ; for just as there are greater and lesser 
stars, greater and lesser forces, greater and lesser influences, so, 
too, among the human race are there some who outshine, con- 
strain and influence others through virtue of rank, wealth, au- 
thority, and mental capability. These — kings, judges, command- 
ers, statesmen, the rich, the learned, and men of parts — are, and 
ever have been the rulers of their fellowmen ; these were the 



1 8 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

oc Gsot, the dOavaTOt, the supcri, "the gods"; all outside their 
ranks are avOpwzot, homines, the stolidum vulgus, mere "men." 

It must not be supposed, however, that this inner significa- 
tion of the term was communicated to either "the vulgar" or "the 
profane" — as the poets are fond of styling the vast majority who 
believed in Paganism, and the better informed minority who had 
no faith whatsoever. To explain the esoteric meaning of "the 
gods" to the ignorant mob would be useless, injudicious, and 
subversive of the law, morality, and order invariably connected 
with religion of any kind; to avow it to the profane would be 
perilous in the extreme, since from these — sceptics in reality, but 
seemingly ardent polytheists — emanated, as a rule, the dread 
charges of "corrupting the youth" and "impiety towards the 
gods." To the believers in One God, then, was the real meaning 
of the ol Geo! confined ; and we can see at a glance what an 
immense advantage it afforded for the propagation of the truth. 
Since the writers and their coreligionists were themselves "gods," 
since the good are always mingled with the bad, and since even in 
the bad are often found some redeeming qualities, it is evident 
that, under the religious disguise of "the gods," the poets had 
not only a wide field and a safe one for upholding right and 
censuring wrong, but had also an innocent means of retaining 
favor with the great, and of disarming malice and suspicion. If, 
for instance, carried away by zeal, they dilated too markedly on 
a Supreme Being with infinite attributes, what more easy or 
natural than to make reverent mention of "the gods" in the next 
paragraph? If a tyrant looked coldly upon them, he could be 
propitiated by a verselet numbering him among "the supcri" ; and 
if the profane litterateur accused them of "impiety," the ol Gsot 
could be stuffed down his throat, and the finger of pride pointed 
to an ode inscribed "Ad Lunam," "Ad Bacchum," or "Ad Solem"! 

There remains one final objection, namely, certain invoca- 
tions to Zeus — that of Aratus, for instance — which have been 
said to exhibit a decidedly pantheistic tinge and a tendency to 
worship. These will be more appropriately treated of in an- 
other chapter; still, it can be said here that they are as true but 
misleading as the charge which has been just explained. 

It is absolutely certain, then, that Paganism was never uni- 
versal in the complete sense of the word ; that, at every stage of 
its existence, there lived men who had a knowledge, no way in- 
ferior to our own, of a One True God ; and that certain of these, 
gifted by nature, kept this knowledge alive in prose and verse. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 19 

Much of this knowledge was freely and openly expressed — the 
quotations already given are in evidence; much more was veiled 
through dread of persecution, but veiled so diaphanously that, 
while reading (and, it may be, wondering how men so intellec- 
tually gifted could be thus deceived), we catch here and there 
"Such golden glimpses of the goal, 
As make new pulses to emotion thrill, 
And a new spirit waken." 



THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



CHAPTER III. 

COULD THEY HAVE HAD A KNOWLEDGE OF THE CHRIST? 

A belief in one Supreme Being, the creator of heaven and 
earth, was not the sole relic that had subsisted and come down 
through the ages of Greek time. A knowledge of our first 
parents and of the Fall was preserved and interwoven in the 
myth that centred around Zeus and Prometheus at Mekone;* 
in another myth, that of Deucalion, has the Deluge been re- 
corded ; and apart altogether from the myths, it is generally 
conceded that the Greeks, in common with many other great 
nations of antiquity, had cognizance of those great incidents con- 
nected with primeval man. 

Had they also a knowledge of the promised Christ? Have 
they mentioned Him by name? If so, where? The consensus 
of opinion to these queries is negative, so far as we are aware, 
and may be best described as "No; NO; Nowhere." But while 
the "NO" and "Nowhere" are based on what are considered 
proofs, the "No" to the first query admits of a certain degree 
of doubt and argument, since a person can manifestly have 
cognizance of a fact, and still "give it an understanding but no 
tongue." 

The great incidents alluded to were general ones, since from 
Adam came all, the Fall involved all, and the Flood was a 
punishment inflicted upon all; and because they were general 
were they more or less borne in mind by all. But the promise 
was equally general, as holding out a hope for all. Why, then, 
should it be forgotten and the others held in remembrance ? 

In importance it was certainly far superior; in hope it 
illumined the future, and kept the mind perpetually awake; in 
its awesome and uncertain certainty it would seize the very soul 
of man, would occupy and multiply his thoughts, goad curiosity 
to inquiry, inquiry to reason, reason to wisdom ; in it, also, was 
the truth, for a belief in One God never was or could be the en- 
tirety of religion since the fateful day when the Promise was 
given in the garden. 

* See Gods of Old, pp. 391-395. 



W HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 21 

In connection, too, with the creation and fall of man, a more 
or less degree of amplified detail is found in ancient records; and 
similarly with the Deluge. Would memory not associate, even if 
it did not record the Promise with the Fall ? For a chosen people 
who received Him not, and who He knew would not receive Him, 
would the thread of memory be snapped from all other peoples 
of the earth? What then of Melchisedek, "priest of the Most 
High God," and so wondrously described in the Psalm that 
bears upon the kingdom, priesthood, and passion of the Christ? 
What of Job, who declared "I know that my Redeemer liveth"? 
And what of the wise men (one of whom is reputed to have been 
a Greek) who saw His star in the East, and journeyed from 
afar to pay Him worship? These men cover the range from 
early patriarchal days to the coming of the Messiah; these men 
were not of the seed of Abraham; and yet they had indubitably 
a cognizance of the Christ. Why not others, too, whom history 
has left unmentioned ? 

To argue that a specially favored race excluded every other 
race from all divine favor is directly opposed to the words of 
Isaias (lvi:3-8); and, furthermore, it is neither sound reason- 
ing, nor consistent with what we know of the justice, goodness, 
and providence of the Almighty. Special favors are sometimes 
granted not alone to the deserving but to those who need them 
most; and the Omnipotence that was pleased with the faith and 
obedience of Abraham knew also how much in need of favor 
would be the stiff-necked people descended from his loins. But 
the same Omniscience knew that when the final test would 
come, it would be other races, and not the chosen one, who would 
believe in and accept Him. Does this suggest that the thread of 
memory would be snapped for two thousand years from Gentile 
peoples, and that they would be abandoned altogether to their 
own devices? Or does it prove that during this long span some 
minds had been at work piling up an immense debt against high 
heaven by winnowing thought, garnering the truth, and planting 
the good seed when they could, where they could, and as best 
they could, among the tares and cockle of Pagan literature? 
The former supposition is repugnant to reason, and contrary 
to our ideas of Him who is the common Father of all, and who 
said, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." The 
later offends neither reason nor religion, and has the additional 
merit of furnishing an explanation for the facility with which 
the gospel was spread among the Gentiles, and especially, be it 



22 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

noted, among the Greeks, the earliest of converts to Chris- 
tianity. In Romans iv: 4, Paul says, "Now to him that worketh, 
is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt" ; and it may 
well be that this same rapid march of early Christianity among 
the Gentiles was part of the reward predestined for the workers 
who sowed amidst difficulties, and who, to preserve the precious 
seed, martyred in many instances their own reputation for mo- 
rality, veracity, sound judgment and common sense. And if this 
be so, what then do we, the ripened fruitage of early Christian 
propagation, owe to these laborers in the vineyard? Is it only 
a half hour's pleasure from reading a flight of oratory, the 
wailing or jubilation of a chorus, the trite description of a battle 
or a love scene, the amaboean contests of rural swains, or terse 
maxims on moral, social and civic subjects? Should our grati- 
tude stop short at praise but given to the ear? 

All these reasons tend of necessity to dilute the negative 
response to a knowledge of the Messiah among certain of the 
ancients. It is further weakened by the fact that there were 
sources, outside of preserved tradition, whereby this knowledge 
could be acquired. Abraham, to whom and in whom the Promise 
was renewed, lived at various times among Chaldeans, Canaan- 
ites, and Egyptians; Jacob sojourned long in Mesopotamia, and 
for the last seventeen years of his life in Goshen ; the Israelites 
remained for several centuries in Egypt, "and growing exceed- 
ingly strong they filled the land"; Moses tarried forty years 
in Arabia. All these happenings occurred between 1921 and 
1491 B. C, when Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt were powerful 
kingdoms and notable for learning and civilization, as attested 
by the accredited "hanging gardens" and "walls one hundred 
feet in height," by existing pyramids and ruined temples, and 
by certain well-known acts of Pharaoh's wise men, authenticated 
by Scripture, and such as would baffle the wise men of our 
day. There would assuredly be an intercommunion of ideas 
between the well-informed of the Israelites and those of the 
people among whom they dwelt, and the promised Messiah 
would be a never-failing theme for the former, not alone for 
the purpose of diffusing the great truth and discussing its mystery 
with a kindred spirit, but for the very pride that the Messiah 
should be born of their race. What the Egyptians thus learned 
from the Israelites, the Greeks would learn from the Egyptians ; 
for even in those early days there was a Greece, intimately con- 
lected with Egypt through such colonizers as Cadmus, Cecrops, 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 23 

Danaus, Inachus, Aegialeus, and others, and confessedly in- 
debted to it for certain tenets of religion as well as for the rudi- 
ments of literature and legislation. 

This communication between peoples, and the diffusion of 
the Promise, would continue when Israel itself became a nation, 
and especially during the reign of Solomon (1015-975 B. C.). 
Solomon, we are told, "made affinity with Pharaoh, King of 
Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter" ; and again, "And all the 
earth sought Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had 
put into his heart" ; and there is a peculiar significance in this 
portion of his prayer at the dedication of the temple (I Kings 
viii: 41-43): 

"Moreover, concerning a stranger, that is not of thy 
people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's 
sake ; 

(For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong 
hand, and of thy stretched-out arm;) when he shall come 
and pray toward this house ; 

Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according 
to all that the stranger calleth to thee for : that all people of 
the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people 
Israel; and that they may know that this house which I 
have builded is called by thy name." 

Later on, when Israel fell upon evil days, when the ten 
tribes were dispersed in 721 B. C, and the remaining two were 
led into captivity in 588 B. C, the knowledge of the Promise, 
rendered still riper by the prophecies of David, Isaiah, Hosea, 
Micah, Joel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, was vigorously dis- 
seminated among the Assyrians, Medes, Persians, and Babylo- 
nians. What does the elder Tobias, one of these same captives, 
say before he died in Nineveh? 

"Give glory to the Lord, ye children of Israel, and 
praise him in the sight of the Gentiles : 

Because he hath therefore scattered you among the Gentiles, 
who know not him, that you may declare his wonderful 
works, and make them know that there is no other almighty 
God besides him." 

All these prophecies would be certain to filter into Egypt 
(where religion was ever of paramount importance), and through 
it to Greece, since Psammeticus I and his successor (666-596 
B. C.), by incorporating Greeks among the army, allotting them 
settlements on the eastern branch of the Nile, and encouraging 



24 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

the Greek tongue among their Egyptian subjects, had brought the 
two countries into the closest touch with one another. Greece 
itself was now looming up conspicuously amidst the nations of 
the world. Troy had borne testimony to its genius for war; 
Homer had led the way in epic poetry, as had Hesiod, Callinus, 
and Archilochus in didactic, elegiac, and lyric; a first Olympiad 
marked Grecian time; Lycurgus and Solon had legislated, the 
Seven Sages had uttered words of wisdom, and the foundations 
had been laid of the Ionic, Eleatic and Pythagorean schools; 
colonies had been planted on the shores of the Euxine and the 
coast lines of Asia Minor, at Naucratis in Egypt and Cyrene in 
northern Africa, at Corsica, Sicily, Italy and Gaul ; and its trade 
and commerce reached the two extremes of the Mediterranean. 
All these happenings dated before the Jews returned under 
Zerubbabel from capitivity (536 B. C), and it was during the 
fifty-two years of their enforced stay in Babylon that Thales, 
Solon, and Pythagoras traveled through Egypt and Asia Minor 
in their quest for knowledge. Solon, as Plutarch tells us, "con- 
versed upon points of philosophy with Psenophis the Heliopolitan 
and Senchis the Saite, the most learned of the Egyptian priests"; 
and it is reasonable to conclude that Atlantis was not the only 
"lost" which was discussed by priests and sage "on the Canopian 
shore by Nile's deep mouth," and that some knowledge of the 
past, outside altogether of what was secular, must have been 
known to and imparted by his Gamaliels to justify their boast, 
"You Greeks are mere children, talkative and vain; you know 
nothing at all of the past." 

Egypt, conquered by Cambyses in 525 B. C., carried on a 
desultory war for freedom up to the reign of Artaxerxes III, 
and was materially assisted in her struggle of nearly two cen- 
turies by Greek forces from Sparta or from Athens. During the 
intervals of these wars, Egypt and part of Asia were visited 
by Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, Hellanicus, Herodotus, Democritus, 
Plato, and others notable for their learning, wisdom and re- 
search ; and of Plato it has been further asserted by some writers 
that, in his eager quest for knowledge, he sojourned for a while 
among the Jews, Assyrians, Babylonians, Magi and the Persians. 
Was it for any one particular department of knowledge that he 
traveled, or for all? If the former, what was the one? If the 
latter, then it was philosophy ; but Plato's own definition of 
philosophy, as quoted by Diogenes Laertes, shows what knowl- 
edge really meant to him: cpcXoaocpcoc opeq'iq ir]q Qeixq ooyiaq, 
"philosophy is the longing for heavenly wisdom." 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 25 

In 331 B. C. Persia came under Grecian sway, and with it 
came Egypt, Judaea, Assyria, Babylon, and all the countries from 
Indus to the Nile; and when Alexander died, Greek kingdoms 
and the Greek language became established over this vast region. 
Through this Hellenizing process, communication became freer, 
easier and more general between the learned and priestly orders 
of different nations, and the East with all its store of tradition and 
religious lore was open for the searcher after truth. The Jews, 
too, were widely distributed, about this time; as soldiers (for 
numbers of them had joined the army of Alexander), captives, 
freedmen, merchants, traders, they filled the cities, towns and 
villages of Asia; and in Egypt alone they numbered over a 
hundred thousand strong in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus. 
In the reign of this Ptolemy numbers of Greeks, eminent for their 
skill in poetry, science, and philosophy, flocked to Alexandria, 
tempted hither by the liberal patronage of the ruler, by the won- 
derful Museum and Library that he had completed, by the 
abstruse learning of the priests, and above all by the version 
of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek (the Septuagint) published 
in 277 B. C., and at Ptolemy's express command. 

At no period, then, from the days of Abraham was it prac- 
tically impossible for Egypt or for Greece to acquire a knowledge 
of the promised Christ. Every century that rolled by brought 
the Coming nearer, outlined more and more definitely the 
"where? when? and how?", detailed the functions, actions, and 
minute circumstances attending the life and death of the Messiah 
— and at the same time cleared away obstacle after obstacle 
interfering with the propagation of the mysterious truth. For 
this was Israel chosen, sent to Goshen, made a nation, taken 
captive and dispersed; for this was the comparatively remote 
and inaccessible East left for a while to its traditions, and Egypt 
made the constant link between Jew and Greek; for this, and 
lest its traditions should be forgotten, was the cradle of the 
human race favored by a Judaea founded in its midst; for this 
were Eastern empires raised and toppled, their tongues and people 
mingled, and the way prepared for a mighty empire that should 
represent the West and the language of the West; for this was 
Israel's literary treasure melted down, recoined into the Sep- 
tuagint, and rendered current reading for close on three hundred 
years before the coming of our Lord. For this, too — let us 
conclude by saying — was Greece overshadowed by Rome, the 
mightiest empire of them all, but one that ever looked to Greece 



26 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

as Greece had looked to Egypt; and for this was the Greek 
tongue supplanted by Latin speech, in order that the mysterious 
truth might be more widely disseminated among the tribes and 
nations of the West. 

Some few other circumstances there are which tend to point 
the finger of suspicion at a knowledge of the Messiah among the 
ancients. The teachings of Greek philosophers, at least of the 
most eminent, were divided into exoteric and esoteric. The 
former were public, free to all who chose to attend, and (as we 
find them in their works) treated of social, moral and scientific 
topics ; but they are always strongly permeated by religious feel- 
ing, and marked in numerous instances by ambiguous words and 
phrasing. So notable, indeed, is this last peculiarity, especially 
when connected with things divine, that modern essays on the 
tenets of Pythagoras, Plato, and many other philosophers, differ 
considerably, sometimes to the point of complete opposition, as to 
the meaning intended to be conveyed by certain words and pas- 
sages. Was this ambiguity the result of accident, carelessness or 
design ? The Greek writers were confessedly masters of their sub- 
jects, and we must grant them lucidity if Horace be right when 
he says "Cui lecta potenter erit res, nee facundia deseret hunc, nee 
lucidus ordo." But they were inimitable in their choice of words ; 
and to make the purely artificial appear natural, whether in 
painting, statuary, or words, was placed by them on a par with 
the embellishment of the purely natural by artificial means. 
Longinus testifies to this in the lines (De Subl. xxii.) : Tots yap ^ 
tsxvt) xeXetoq, tqvcV av yvaiq elvat Boxf), tq 8' ai fiitjt? eiziiv/riS > 
oxav XavOavouaav icepiex?) tyjv ikyyt]v. 

We may rationally infer, then, that the ambiguities of 
exoteric speech were intentional, and designed to attract the 
better minds who thirsted for the truth, in contradistinction to 
those who were satisfied with generalities. For those better and 
more inquiring spirits were the esoteric teachings reserved, since 
we know that such teachings were only for the select few, were 
oral, and private. What the nature of those instructions was, 
whether political, scientific, or religious, has never been ascer- 
tained. The first is opposed by the fact of their never inter- 
fering with practical politics, and never being accused with justice 
of conspiring against the civil interests of the state; and the 
second furnishes no conclusive argument for a selection of pupils, 
and none at all for the rigid secrecy enjoined and practised. The 
consensus of opinion has therefore eliminated these two, and 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 27 

agreed upon religion as the preponderating, if not the sole ele- 
ment in the esoteric teachings. But, if religion, what then could 
be the particular knowledge necessitating such a close selection 
of followers and a privacy so mysterious ? It could not have been 
that of a One God, invested with infinite attributes and the 
Creator of all things, because He and His attributes and His 
works were openly and freely dwelt upon, as already noticed; 
and since pure theology, outside of Unity and divine perfections, 
had naught else to deal with except the Trinity and a Christ to 
come, what is there left for sober reason to conjecture? 

This religious propagandism, however, was on a small scale 
compared with that carried on at Eleusis. At what time the 
Eleusinia, or "the Mysteries" (toe ^ucrT^pta)as the Greeks 
loved to call them, were founded, and by whom, is not known. 
Different authorities say that they were established by the god- 
dess Demeter, when searching for the absent Persephone; or by 
Eumolpus, who was saved by his father (Neptune) after his 
mother had thrown him, still a babe, into the sea; or by the 
oracular poet, Musaeus; or that they were introduced from 
Egypt by Erechtheus, who had been reared, when a child, by 
Minerva without the knowledge of the other gods, and entrusted 
for safe-keeping to the daughters of Cecrops. It may be said of 
these myths that the traditionary source of the Promise peeps 
out in the first, since it is symbolical of mother earth (or the 
earliest settlers) searching after the Absent and Unseen, who 
was finally to come for a brief period; the Israelitish source 
peeps out in the second and third ; and the Egyptian in the last. 
Even the origin of the name ( 'EXeucrivta) is buried in the 
gloom of ages, since it is far more probable that the temple and 
the rites gave a name to, rather than received one from the town — 
just as Athens got its name from Athena. Be these things as 
they may, the ancients are agreed on the fact that the Eleusinia 
were the oldest, holiest, and most comprehensive of all the Greek 
ceremonious festivals, men and women of all ranks, slaves not 
even excluded, being capable of admittance under certain pre- 
scribed conditions. 

We read of Lesser and Greater Mysteries, the former being 
as it were a minor degree, prerequisite for the latter, and carried 
out at Agrae, where the rites were celebrated in the month 
Anthesterion (answering to our end of February and beginning 
of March) of each year. Novitiates in the Lesser were called 
Mystae; and the successive stages of initiation were (a) the 



28 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

sacrifice of a pig, (b) purification by a priest, (c) an oath of 
secrecy administered by the mystagogue, and (d) private in- 
structions from the same functionary. 

The Greater Mysteries were celebrated in the month Boe- 
dromion (our end of September and beginning of October) of 
each year, partly at Athens, partly at Eleusis ; and none but those 
who had been Mystae for at least a year were allowed to be 
initiated in them. The rites lasted for nine days (from the 
fifteenth to the twenty-third), the novitiates were called Epoptae 
or Ephuroi, and the order of ceremonies for each day is supposed 
to have been as follows : 

(i). The assemblage of all the Mystae at Athens. 

(2). A solemn procession to the sea-shore, where they were 
purified by the priests. 

(3). Supposed (though not well authenticated) to have 
been occupied in fasting. 

(4). The processional march from Athens to Eleusis. 

(5). A torch-light procession to the temple itself (to 
E X e u s 1 v 1 v), where the Mystae remained overnight. 

(6). The most important and solemn of all. During the 
day the statue of "I a y. yo q , decked with myrtle, and lighted 
torch in hand, was carried along the "Sacred Way" (t e pa 6 86 s) 
from the Sacred Gates at Athens to the temple at Eleusis, amidst 
loud cries of joy and hymnal songs. In the evening the Mystae 
repeated the oath of secrecy, were purified afresh, and then, in 
the dark of night, led singly by the Mystagogue into the lighted 
interior of the sanctuary, where they were initiated by the Hiero- 
phant, and permitted to behold that (the auToijiia) which the 
initiated alone could see and understand. After this the Hiero- 
phant is said to have dismissed each of the initiated with the word 
v.oyq' or o[xxa^. 

(7). The return of the Epoptae to Athens, the journey be- 
ing marked by good-natured raillery and jests received from and 
given back to acquaintances and on-lookers, especially at the 
bridge over the Cephisus. 

(8). This day — called 'EiuBaupia in honor of Aesculapius, 
"the healer" — was devoted, it is said, to the initiation of those 
who had come too late, or had been prevented in any way from 
attending the ceremonies of the sixth day. 

(9). On this, the last day, two peculiar and cup-shaped 
vessels, called it X tj n / at , were filled with wine or water, and 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 29 

the ritualist, while uttering some mystical words, scattered the 
contents of one to the east, and of the other to the west. 

While these details have been gathered from the writings of 
the ancients, the peculiar nature of the doctrine revealed by 
either the Mystagogue or the Hierophant is a pure matter for 
speculation, since the initiated were exceedingly careful (except of 
course among themselves) to shun the subject in oral or written 
speech. That the Eleusinia were distinctly religious in character 
is evidenced by their antiquity and reputation for holiness, by 
their non-exclusiveness, by their being carried out in the temple, 
conducted by the priests, attended by repeated acts of purification 
and procession, and by the very name of "Mysteries" attached to 
them; and that the doctrine taught was of a profound nature is 
equally evidenced by "purification" and "mysteries," by the pre- 
paratory and prolonged novitiate, by fasting, the solemn silence of 
the night, and by the oath of secrecy. 

Since again, then-, and for the same reasons mentioned in 
connection with the esoteric teachings of the philosophers, we 
must exclude the Unity and divine attributes of God, what other 
subject or subjects of the deepest religious import, and of pro- 
found interest to all ranks, classes, and sexes, was there left for 
the Hierophant to reveal? There is a world of thought in the 
cursory remark of Pindar when he says that "according to the 
general belief of the ancients, the Eleusinian Mysteries opened to 
man a comforting prospect of a future state." There is also a 
deep significance in the words of Clemens of Alexandria, a 
Christian philosopher of the first century, when he calls the 
Eleusinia "a mystical drama." In his time, and every day since 
his time, a "mystical drama" has been offered up. In honor of 
whom? Of Him in whom we believe, and who came. If there 
were some in pagan times who also believed in Him, and that 
He would come, would they too not have certain rites and cere- 
monies in His honor, and commemorative of their belief that 
He would come? And, derivationally considered, what means the 
word I X s u a i v t a ? Rites in honor of the One who will come 
(1 p % \l a t , IXeiiao^at); or, to be more explicit, rites in 
honor of the Son who will come (IXeuao^at Ivtq). 

Hellenic paganism was very old, as we have seen ; so old that 
we read nowhere of a more ancient pagan cult worshiped and 
believed in by the Greeks; still, surely not so old as the belief 
in One God and a Christ to come that was known to Noah and 
his children, and through them to the builders of Babel and the 



3 o THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

pioneers of races and of nations. With this idea and opinion, we 
can readily concur in what has been aptly called "the most sober 
and practical" of the many modern speculations regarding the 
nature of the Eleusinian Mysteries: "They were the remains of 
a worship which preceded the rise of the Hellenic mythology and 
its attendant rites, grounded on a view of nature, less fanciful, 
more earnest, and better fitted to awaken both philosophical 
thought and religious feeling." — Thirlwall's "History of Greece." 

One other point there is which deserves mention. Since it 
is only after the event has come to pass that dark sayings and 
obscure prophecies concerning it become understood, lucid, and 
prized, it is evident that there would be no period comparable 
with that of the early post-Christian centuries, when the inner 
meaning (if such there were) of ancient classic writings would 
be so apt to be recognized. Paul was not above quoting from 
them in the Areopagus at Athens; and that they were held in 
high esteem and diligently studied by the Fathers, from Justin 
to Augustine, is not doubted. If idolatrous in essence and in 
teaching, they would surely not have recommended themselves 
for perusal to those religious lights, especially in the early cen- 
turies when Paganism and Christianity were so bitterly opposed 
on all questions involving faith and morals. On the supposition, 
however, that they contained the truth, though in covert language, 
regarding Him who was to come, we cease to feel surprised at the 
classical and philosophical proclivities of those learned and pious 
clerics. Philosophy, it may be objected, had much to do in lead- 
ing some of the early Christian writers into heterodox and devious 
paths. It may be so ; but this comment only emphasizes the re- 
ligious current of thought permeating the ancient classics, and is 
as reasonably unreasonable as that which would blame the four 
evangelists for the diverse opinions and sectarianism of to-day. 

On the same supposition, too, we may find a clue, different 
from what has been assigned, to the numerous subscribed dots 
and dashes in connection with the Greek and Latin text of the 
codices and older manuscripts. For what purpose were they 
employed? To mark certain words and beautiful passages, it is 
said. It is even so; but the words are (let us say in anticipation) 
the names of our Lord, His mother, and Joseph, of Bethlehem, 
Nazareth, Jerusalem ; and the beauties consist in fervent aspira- 
tions to God, and descriptive passages connected with His com- 
ing and His mission. The chrestomaXhy of the ancients and 
mediaevals is really a ChristomzXhy; and, considered as such, we 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 31 

can well understand and appreciate the painstaking and labor be- 
stowed by the monks of old upon the transcription and preser- 
vation of the classics. To enter into harmony with the inmost 
thoughts of Homer, Plato, Vergil, Ovid; to render a passage 
with the same spirit in which it was originally penned; to see 
what others had not seen, find what others had passed by, to 
draw attention to certain letters by underdotting them, and make 
a few brief scholia indicating and elucidating what was obscure ; 
to exult over a prophecy of the Messiah, or thrill over a piteous 
appeal that He would come; to wonder at their wisdom, be 
fascinated with their language, and admire their skilful choice 
of words; to feel humble at their unwavering belief and trust in 
Him who was to come — all these, and not the mere rhetoric, elo- 
quence, poetry, and grace of sage or bard, would cheer and com- 
fort the cowled figure in his cell, would render light his task, and 
make the labor of transcription one of love. 

Let us conclude by saying that, judged purely upon its own 
merits, there seems to be no valid reason for a negative response 
to the query, "Could the ancients have acquired a knowledge of 
the promised Christ?" On the other hand, some of the argu- 
ments adduced for the affirmative tend to show that they not only 
could but that they did possess this knowledge. If so, would 
they persistently keep it locked in memory — would they allow 
the mouth to freeze and the heart to ache in silence? Or would 
this mute knowledge become unbearable — would the very aching 
and ardor thaw their tongues, and open in some fashion or other 
the floodgates of remembrance? These thoughts naturally lead 
up to that other and most important query, "Have they mentioned 
Him by name?" 



32 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



CHAPTER IV. 



DID THEY MAKE MENTION OF HIS NAMEf 

Did the cultured initiated mention Christ in their writings? 
If by this be meant, "did they write the words Xpccrroq and 'Irjcouq t 
literatim et seriatim ?" the answer, so far as we know, must be in 
the negative. But this, let us hasten to add, is not conclusive; 
if it were, there would be no value attached to synonyms; 
if it were, Shakespeare and "the bard of Avon" would be 
different personages; if it were, "Boz" would not spell Charles 
Dickens, nor "Boanerges" the sons of Zebedee. 

"What's in a name ? That which we call a rose, 
By any other name would smell as sweet." 
There were divers reasons and good ones why the Name 
should not be written in so plain and conspicuous a fashion. 
Here are some : 

(i). While kings and princes would not be opposed to the 
indefinite idea of a Supreme Being who ruled the 
heavens and the earth — who, while everywhere, dwelt 
peculiarly in the highest distance — and who judged 
men after death, they would look with very different 
eyes upon the Christ that was to come on earth. The 
Jews themselves, overlooking the spiritual meaning, 
looked for Christ as a temporal personage, gifted with 
extraordinary attributes, who would deliver them 
from the yoke of nations, conquer the world, and 
reign over it as king. If such was the opinion of the 
chosen people and of their priests, who supposedly 
ought to be best informed, how could we expect the 
kings and princes of the Gentile world to entertain a 
different one? A ruler "from afar" did not disturb 
them much, provided only he remained afar; but a 
suzerain coming for the purpose of overthrowing 
thrones and dynasties was not productive of pleasant 
thoughts. The Earth His Kingdom! What, then, 
would they be? Satraps, petty chiefs, tributaries? 
Exiles, prisoners, menials? Condemned to instant 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 33 

death, or forced as gladiators to fight each other in 
the arena? 

Since open mention, then, of the Name would 
necessarily attract attention, and since continuous in- 
quiry would elicit all the known details regarding 
Him who bore the Name, the belief entertained by the 
Jews would be sure to come to light among the rest. 
The inevitable consequences would be that all public 
or private mention of the coming king would be pro- 
scribed, literature would be jealously watched and 
hampered, and all who favored, or might be sup- 
posed to favor Him would be condemned to exile or 
to death on the popular charge of "impiety toward the 
gods." It is even within the range of possibility that 
some one or more of earth's mighty rulers would en- 
deavor to obliterate the tradition by making a de- 
termined effort at exterminating the entire Jewish 
nation, since from it was to spring the dreaded Lord. 
The magnitude of such a holocaust by a barbarous 
Eastern potentate would be no greater than was that 
of the early Christians by imperial and civilized 
Rome : in atrocity it would be no more hellish and in- 
excusable than that of Herod, when he massacred 
four thousand babes in the hope that a child Christ 
would be among the number; nor than that of the 
Pharaoh "who knew not Joseph," when — to save his 
dynasty, and lest (as Josephus and the Talmudists 
assert) "a child should be born to the Israelites who, 
if he were reared, would bring the Egyptian dominion 
low" — he ordered all the male children of the He- 
brews to be thrown into the Nile, and condemned to 
death the parents who would not thus voluntarily de- 
stroy their offspring. If these two kings, ruling in 
different ages and over different races, could conceive 
and carry into execution such monstrous iniquities in 
order to save their thrones from a danger that existed 
only through a tradition, what would or could be ex- 
pected from others of their kind if the name and tradi- 
tional details of Christ were openly written in the 
works of poets and philosophers? The annals of their 
days relate how, lusting for supreme and single sway, 
they sacrificed their nearest of kin — brothers, sisters, 



34 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

mothers even — sacrificed all who barred the way to 
undisputed rule, all whom they hated or feared, irre- 
spective of sex, age, rank, good services, or upright- 
ness. What mercy, then, would they show to the 
humble bard or sage who named the One to whom 
would be given "dominion, and glory, and a king- 
dom, that all people, nations, and languages should 
serve him" ? 
(2). Even among the enlightened themselves it was not 
deemed advisable or meritorious to openly write and 
preach the Christ. There was too much at issue, too 
many lives at stake, too much of what was compara- 
tively good to lose, without a corresponding benefit. No 
one knew absolutely when the Christ would come. 
The best informed minds of the Augustan age, guided 
by presages of war and peace, by past events, by 
Jewish prophecies, and, possibly, by a mystic ac- 
quaintance with Chaldean numbers, looked for His 
appearance at or about the time they lived: the same 
guides must have led the illuminati who flourished 
with Theocritus, Menander, Plato, Sophocles, Hesiod, 
and Homer, to feel that century after century would 
elapse previous to the Coming. Supposing, then, that 
they did openly preach the gospel of truth, and got a 
respectful and attentive hearing, what could they 
offer in the meantime to kings and people? A prom- 
ised Good-man could have no more or better effect 
on these than the Promised Land had upon the Jews 
in the desert. Time and again, fretted with delay and 
expectation, and hankering after the old flesh pots, 
would they lapse into Paganism ; and there would be 
no God pledged to them, as His chosen people, to lift 
them from the mire. Into Paganism, we have said ; 
it might even be into worse, humanly speaking, for 
Paganism had an assured repressing influence of its 
own over the minds of the governed class from a 
political and social standpoint, as, in a less degree, 
from a moral one — seeing that it inculcated much that 
was essentially good, namely, respect for law, obedi- 
ence to rulers, filial love, observance of social and 
moral rights, patriotic sentiment, justice, mercy, truth, 
industry, hospitality to strangers, and impartial judg- 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 35 

ment after death. To subvert, therefore, a compara- 
tively mild and innocuous Paganism for a dim and 
long expectation of something better would be to sub- 
vert established law, civilized customs, and social 
rights, with the sad consequences of anarchy, barbar- 
ism and unbridled license. 
(3). Added to those fears of the consequences resulting to 
themselves, the state, the household, to literature and 
civilization, was the rational hopelessness of their 
efforts proving successful. The high priests at 
Eleusis, Isis, and elsewhere; the oldest and wisest 
among themselves; the heads of conferences (for 
conferences they had, as we gather from a reading of 
the poets) ; and the men who, like the Pericles and 
Maecenas of their day, were prominent statesmen and 
true believers, — all these counseled prudence, and by 
their social prestige and influence kept the more 
ardent spirits in check. The first — the high priests — 
would impress the idea that the tenets and univer- 
sality of the new cult could be firmly established only 
by a God, and that it presupposed pride and presump- 
tion on the part of any mere individual man to hasten 
what could only be accomplished in the fullness of 
time, or to attempt a work of such magnitude as 
necessitated the actual and visible presence of a God 
in human flesh. The second, who would command 
the respect and reverence that is conceded in every 
age to intellectual giants by their admiring followers, 
would cite, as examples of what open speech and 
over-enthusiasm might entail, the penalties inflicted 
upon Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Protagoras, Socrates, 
Prodicus, Aristotle, and many another who preceded 
or followed these. The third could ostracize them 
from their conclaves, social cliques, and literary re- 
unions. The fourth, from the high positions which 
they held, could frown upon their efforts, withdraw 
all patronage and thus consign their works to the 
limbo of literature — could even consign their persons, 
if necessary, to prison or to exile. 
For these combined reasons it was deemed by all that discre- 
tion was the better part of valor, and that to openly write the 
name of Christ or the incidents connected with his birth, life, and 



36 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

death, would not further or benefit the cause — would only injure 
it by exposing to danger the few initiated who by secret precept 
and example were engaged in spreading the light. 

But while open mention and description were strictly pro- 
hibited, there could be no valid objection to the concealed form, 
if only shown and proved to be effectual. On the contrary, there 
was much to recommend and encourage such an attempt, since it 
would tend not only to keep the truth alive, to spread the faith, 
to gain adherents from the cautious and timid, and to furnish an 
extended written testimony of belief in the true God and promised 
Redeemer of the world, but also to vindicate themselves in after 
ages from the vile charge of Paganism, and at the same time 
give a safe outlet to the religious enthusiasm in their midst that 
rebelled against the goad of silence imposed upon the cult. 

But, though the concession was allowed, it appeared to be 
more nominal than actual, so hedged around it was with seeming 
impossibilities. Let us take a glance at the conditions, first as to 
the Name, and then as to the description. 

The name of our Lord should be so written as to escape the 
eyes of the profane, and yet be readily visible to the enlightened : 
furthermore, the mode of concealment should be uniform. 

It would be quite possible for one writer to employ a cipher 
of his own, or other occult means, whereby he could disguise 
the Name and defy detection except from the few to whom he 
would communicate the code. But so could another, and another, 
and yet another; with the inevitable result of interminable con- 
fusion and labyrinthine perplexity. If there were as many cipher 
codes as there were writers, the final consequence would be that 
no one would burden himself with the effort of deciphering the 
reading, and all the time, labor and genius expended on the part 
of authors would be lost. For this cogent reason it was abso- 
lutely necessary that the mode of concealing the Name should be 
a uniform one, and the same for all time and for all writers, 
whether Greek, Latin, or otherwise. But this very uniformity 
was a double-edged weapon, since, while a valuable aid to the 
initiated in deciphering the Name, it would be equally valuable 
for detection if once the suspicions of the profane were excited 
and set upon the proper track. It is evident, then, that the 
original difficulties in "concealment" were exceedingly enhanced 
by the additional fiat of "a uniform mode of concealment." 

To write the name of his God would be a relief and a con- 
solation to the author ; to read that name would be a joy to those 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 37 

who perused the literary work. How much greater the consola- 
tion, how much greater the joy, if coupled to the Name was a 
verbal description of His infinite attributes, of His omnipotence 
and love! If the writer could only disburden himself of his 
thoughts and declare the glory of the Most High ! If in words, 
written words, he could announce himself a believer in the One 
True God and the Christ to come! If only he could expatiate 
on that Christ — tell how He would be born of a virgin mother 
and guarded in infancy and childhood by a foster father — relate 
the incidents of His life — the land that would give Him birth — 
the humility, rectitude, patience and love displayed for His fellow 
men by precept and example — the short period of His stay on 
earth — the crucifixion — resurrection — and ascension! If these 
and other incidents could only be told, what a triumph for re- 
ligion! What a triumph for mind! Again and again was the 
specific condition for so doing studied and pondered over. It ran 
somewhat thus : 

Descriptive language coupled or connected with the Name 
must be such as to convey one meaning to the initiated, another 
to the profane. 

This implied much. The truth might be concealed (as many 
a truth is) under absolute nonsense, or what appears nonsense, 
whether in grotesque prose or jingling rhythm; but each writer 
desired his works to be read and approved of by all the cultured 
(the profane included), wanted his name and fame to be en- 
rolled in faithful history, and was fully conscious that foolery 
was not the way to achieve success. Not only, then, were the 
words to convey a different meaning, but also good sense, to the 
different readers, to each one according to his light. If, for ex- 
ample, a Zeus or an Apollo were to be mentioned, the vulgar 
should behold and admire their Pagan deities, the cultured profane 
should see the natural effects of life and light, and the initiated 
should recognize the Supreme Being who is the Life and the 
Light ; if a solemn oath were sworn by, the same words that im- 
plied a Styx, Hades, or Elysium to the ignorant Pagan, and a 
"to be or not to be" to the cultured one, should bring death, the 
hereafter, and retribution before the mind's eye of the true be- 
liever; and, to sum up briefly, the same language that left the 
mob in its idolatry and the philosophical atheist in his aesthetic 
scepticism, should excite Christian thought and sentiment in the 
enlightened. 



38 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

But how could these things be? How could the same set of 
words bear two or three different meanings ? How could written 
speech appeal in one sense to the credulous vulgar, in two to the 
sceptic, and in three to the true believer? And granting that it 
could in short phrases, proverbs, and apothegms, how could it be 
carried out successfully through poems and works of consider- 
able length? Such was the task, however; and difficult as the 
conditioned Name appeared to be, it paled in comparison with the 
conditioned description. 

Was it really accomplished? Yes; else this book had never 
been written. When? No precise date can be assigned. By 
whom? We know not — probably, never will know. Intellect 
was mighty, religious sentiment was fervid, and enthusiasm at 
its boiling point among the learned of the Augustan age. The 
poets of that age wrote the Christ and the story of the Christ 
in the manner prescribed ; but they borrowed it from the Greeks. 
The great poets of the Ptolemaic age, Aratus, Theocritus, Calli- 
machus, may be said to have copied it from earlier ones, from 
Euripides, Sophocles, Pindar, and Aeschylus ; and these, in their 
turn, from Hesiod and from Homer. The theme, be it remem- 
bered well, that actuated these and other poets, in ages so far 
apart, was one and the same — a Christ to come ; and the pre- 
scribed conditions under which they wrote the Name and the 
story were the same for all, and were rigidly adhered to by all. 

And now comes the question, "Did this manner of hiding the 
Name, and this dual mode of written speech originate with 
Hesiod and Homer?" No. Hesiod, it is true, not only uses it 
but teaches his readers how to use it, and thus might gain some 
credit for the invention ; but nowhere does he claim such merit. 
He appears to be simply the teacher of an art in which he him- 
self had been instructed; and, without naming them, refers every 
now and then to "great immortal minds," to "great divines," who 
lived in his own time, and to still others who flourished in days 
gone by. Furthermore, all conjectural claims for Hesiod must 
be banished if we suppose Homer to have lived before him — as 
we do, by some three hundred years or so — since we find the 
conditioned Name and conditioned description as rampant and 
vigorous in the Iliad and Odyssey (more so, if possible) as in 
the later works of the Augustan period ; and in these poems we 
find the same covert allusions to "previous immortals" that we do 
in Hesiod. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 39 

To discover a probable answer, then, to "who were the origi- 
nators ?" we are absolutely forced by reason's logic to fall back on 
the unnamed of pre-Homeric times — the same times that evolved 
the earlier myths and nomenclature of Mythology. What these 
meant — the scientific story of our earth from primal matter to 
life — has already been explained at large in "The Gods of Old." 
The knowledge and profound thought displayed in the Mythology 
can be paralleled only by the knowledge and thought exhibited in 
the occult mode of writing about the Christ to come ; and it is no 
great stretch of fancy to suppose the framers of the one, or their 
near cotemporaries, to have been the originators of the other. 
But whereas openness marks one (for Mythology is an open 
study, as clear and intelligible as geometry, algebra, calculus, or 
any other branch of science can be that deals with cause and 
effect) and concealment is stamped upon the other, we must seek 
the motive or motives that prompted two such opposite pro- 
ductions of the intellect; especially since the search for motives 
may throw some light on the originators of both Mythology and 
occult writing, and help to approximate the time in which they 
lived and flourished. While what we offer is necessarily but a 
theory, there is some slight foundation for it in the following 
words of Berosus (who flourished about 250 B. C.) when writing 
about the Deluge : 

"Kronos appeared to Xisuthrus in a dream and warned him 
that all men would be destroyed by a deluge on the 15th of the 
month Daesios, and commanded him to write down all the learn- 
ing and science of men and to hide it in the sun city of Siparis, 
and then to build a ship and enter along with his family and 
relatives and nearest friends, and to take into it with him food 
and drink and beasts and winged fowl. When he was asked 
whither he was about to sail, he was bidden to reply 'To the gods 
to pray them that men may prosper.' " 

The narrative says that when Xisuthrus disembarked with 
his family, he offered thanks to the gods and vanished, and that 
the survivors subsequently heard his voice in the heavens, bidding 
them fear God and to take his writings out of Siparis and from 
them instruct men. 



4 o THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



CHAPTER V. 

RELIGION AND SCIENCE. 

Sec. i. The Science of Religion. 

Mythology, in one sense, may be described as a collection of 
myths ; and a myth, as a phenomenon dressed in verbal garb. 
Now, since this garment is but an effort to explain more or less 
clearly what has been previously understood, and since the phe- 
nomenon itself cannot be changed while the garment may be 
repeatedly altered to suit exigencies, it follows as a consequence 
that the verbal attire surrounding any one of the phenomena is 
later in point of time, and may not be the original garb in which 
it was dressed. Experience tells us that the primary effort at dis- 
covery is paralleled only by the effort to impress the truth and im- 
portance of the discovery upon the listener or reader. Is obscure 
or disguised speech the best means of doing so? If not — and it 
certainly is not — and because whatever obscurity there is in the 
myth is owing to the descriptive details, we have strong warrant 
for believing that the existing description of any one or all of 
the myths is the production of a later age, a garment that has 
been ripped, turned over, restitched and dyed to meet the ex- 
igencies of circumstances, and that, however clear and open it 
may now be, it was preceded by one that was still more so. 

This very openness of the early mythology implies freedom 
and security from consequences, and so points dimly to a period 
of religious unity and peace, to a previous age when faith was 
as yet undefiled and when all men believed in and worshiped a 
one true God. It would be at such a time that the intellect, re- 
lieved from the necessity of fighting for God, would centre all 
its thoughts and energies on the task of revealing the wonders 
and glory of God, would probe to the quick the problem of being, 
and essay to build a solid and habitable earth from the shapeless 
and incognizable of matter. Judging by the Scriptural narrative — 
the only authentic guide we have of primeval life, manners, and 
worship — we must, in seeking such a period, go back very far 
indeed ; beyond Solomon, who built high places "for Chemosh, 
the abomination of Moab," and for "Moloch, the abomination of 
the children of Ammon"; beyond Moses, when the Israelites 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 41 

went into the daughters of Moab, and were initiated in the wor- 
ship of Beelphegor; beyond Jacob, whose wife stole the idols 
that had found a place in the home of her father, Laban ; be- 
yond Abraham himself, who is said to have been persecuted in 
Ur of the Chaldees for his steadfast worship of the One True 
God. Beyond all these must we go ; and the nearer we come to 
the days of Noah, the more promising become the conditions, the 
purely religious conditions suitable for undertaking the story of 
the Creation. 

The mind may well be staggered at going back so far; but 
there seems to be no other reasonable conclusion when we re- 
member : 

(1). That Mythology is an exceedingly amplified descrip- 
tion of the Creation, suitable for what it was intended 
— a scientific narrative; and that Genesis is a highly 
condensed description of the same work, suitable for 
what it was intended — a brief religious credo. 
(2). That Mythology and Genesis are but versions, one in 

Greek, the other in Hebrew, of the same story. 
(3). That the Hebrew version pushes back this story to 
the time of Moses, whose narrative, as being but a 
summary, proves the existence of a previous and 
more amplified one — one from which Genesis was 
condensed, and one which (bearing in mind the 
source whence Moses is said to have derived his 
learning) existed among the Egyptians. 
(4). That the knowledge of the Egyptians with regard to 
the heavens, and the earth goes back to a time which 
it is difficult to date — to a time which, judged by the 
researches and opinions of modern archaeologists, 
transcends by some thousands of years the period that 
we are modest enough to ask for. 
(5). That the same story is told in the Babylonian, Assyr- 
ian, Iranian, and Sanskrit records, all of which dis- 
pute in point of antiquity with the Egyptian. 
(6). That the historical writings, which touch and com- 
ment upon the point at issue, point to a very remote 
age. Callisthenes, who accompanied Alexander the 
Great into Asia, and was present at the capture of 
Babylon, found that the most ancient astronomical 
observations existing on record in that city, were 
made by the Chaldeans about nineteen centuries be- 



42 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

fore that period, that is to say, about the time of 
Nimrod, or one hundred years after the Flood. 

Berosus, who flourished B. C. 261, declares that 
Abraham was famous for astronomical knowledge; 
and remarks that the longevity of the antediluvians 
was owing to a special dispensation of Providence, in 
order that men might have the time to perfect them- 
selves in the sciences of astronomy and geometry. 

Josephus declares, too, that Abraham was "a 
person of great sagacity" ; that he conversed with the 
most learned among the Egyptians, and gave them 
instructions in astronomy, "for that science came 
from the Chaldeans into Egypt, and from thence to 
Greece." He also writes thus of Seth and his posterity 
(Antiq. 1:2) : "They also were the inventors of that 
peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the 
heavenly bodies, and their order" ; and that they 
inscribed their discoveries on pillars of stone and 
brick in order to withstand the Deluge foretold to 
them by Adam. 
In or about, then, the post-diluvian days of Noah, and at a 
time when men were still "of one language and of one speech" 
and of one religion, the sense of religious security, superadded 
to the vital faith that seeks intelligence as far as intelligence is 
rationally possible, would inspire the immortals of their day to 
write the story of the heavens and the earth. This story was in 
the main a scientific one (as it should be, since religious doubt 
existed not), intended for the mental betterment of the people at 
large, and serving as a rational vindication for the belief that 
pervaded the breasts of all : this story — the Science of religion, 
as it may be called — with so worthy a motive, was an eminently 
inspiring one, and such as should actuate those who then lived 
and gazed and pondered well. They lived, progenitors, as they 
believed, of millions who would fill the earth ; successors, as they 
knew, of millions who had been destroyed. They gazed ; and all 
around them lay the glory and greatness of their Maker — the 
heavens, the earth, and the visible relics connected with the 
last great incident of earth's geologic story, vast pools in the low- 
lands, ribbed chasms in the glens, mighty boulders on the up- 
lands, oases of hardening mud, and the debris of overwhelmed 
cities. They pondered — and to a purpose : should the knowledge 
of the past not go down to the millions yet to come? Should 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 43 

Adam, Eve, the Fall, the Promise, and the expulsion not be 
handed down as a warning and a hope ? Should not their own 
genealogy be traced back in regular order to the first man ; should 
not the arch- fratricide be branded, and that other seed for mur- 
dered Abel be recorded; should not he be remembered who 
walked with God, and was not, for God took him — he, too, who 
found grace in the eyes of the Lord — and they whose wickedness 
had brought about the Deluge? 

If these names and incidents were to be saved from oblivion, 
then and then only was the time to do so, while still there lived 
among them some few survivors of the Flood, and especially 
Noah, whose father was a cotemporary of Enoch, Seth, of Adam 
himself whose knowledge was direct and transcended Solomon's, 
as Solomon's did that of the ordinary man. Nor was this all. 
There surely must have been a learning of their own among the 
dwellers before the Flood; and that this learning was far in 
advance of what an uncivilized people would enjoy is pointed 
out in Genesis iv:i7, 21, 22, where architecture, music, and 
metallurgy (no mean arts, it must be confessed) are specially 
mentioned. We read also in Genesis vi : 4, "There were giants 
in the earth in those days ; and also after that when the sons of 
God came in unto the daughters of men : the same became 
mighty men, which were of old, men of renown." The reading 
leaves a doubt as to whether these were giants physically, in- 
tellectually, or both together; and the doubt as to the purely 
physical is strengthened by the concluding words. Baruch, too, 
(111:26-28) while conceding their great stature, leaves the im- 
pression that these renowned men, neglecting the only true wis- 
dom — the way of the Lord — were wedded to the wisdom of the 
world, and so perished through their folly. 

Now, since Noah was six hundred years old when he entered 
the ark, his experience extended over fully a third, and that the 
concluding one, of antediluvian time. He must, consequently, 
have been the possessor not alone of the direct knowledge of 
things derived from his father through converse with Adam, but 
also of all the scientific lore among the dwellers before the Flood. 
He would thus, seeing that he lived three hundred and fifty years 
after the Flood, prove a trustworthy and valuable mine of in- 
formation for the compilers of the story ; and what the patriarch 
might omit or forget would be supplied by Shem, Ham, and 
Japheth, each of whom had passed his first century of existence 
among the antediluvian livers. 



44 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

It is evident, therefore, that there were many things to en- 
courage and urge the intellectually great of early post-diluvial 
days to undertake the work. Let us sum them up : a unity of 
religious worship ; a unity of oral and written speech ; the fas- 
cination of the story ; the mental betterment of their fellows ; the 
stimulus to mind ; the story of the heavens and the earth ; the 
story of primal man and of the Deluge; the pride of pedigree; 
the pride of intellect; the wealth of information and of material 
facts ; and last, though not least, the purely individual prompt- 
ings of 

"The burning thunderbolt of human Thought, 
That sends the living light of Truth abroad." 

And so we conceive "the Science of religion" — the open and 
clear exposition of mythology, the true story of the heavens and 
the earth — as written at a period when mankind was of the one 
race, religion, language and speech; and when, consequently, it 
was intelligible to all and interpreted after the same fashion by 
all. How would its teachings be disseminated? Separate copies 
with full details might have been delivered to each patriarch; 
condensed summaries to their eldest sons ; and a bare list of 
technical names to all and every who evinced an interest in 
and desire for knowledge. This last, as occupying but a little 
time, labor and space, could be multiplied in profusion, and illus- 
trated and explained in oral discourse by the teachers, leading 
men, and princes of each family. 

Sec. 2 . The Religion of Science. 

"Exile," says Cicero, "possesses no terrors for those who 
regard earth as one city." The world was but one city in those 
primeval days, and the leaven of separation in its every form was 
already working. As men increased in numbers with the years, 
as their flocks and herds and other worldly gear throve and mul- 
tiplied, and as the jealousies incidental to every crowded com- 
munity arose, the tribes grew restive and hankered for pastures 
new, for wider fields, for change. 

Scripture (Genesis xi) relates the story, and tells us how 
journeying from the East, they dwelt in the land of Shinar, and 
proceeded to build a city, and a tower "whose top may reach unto 
heaven, and let us make a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon 
the face of the whole earth." What special intent they had in 
view is not clear ; but that it boded no good is evident from the 
concluding lines of verse 6, and from the punishment meted out : 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 45 

"So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face 
of all the earth; and they left off to build the city. Therefore 
is the name of it called Babel, because the Lord did there con- 
found the language of all the earth." The confusion of languages 
intensified the feeling of self-expatriation, and "Let us depart!" 
went up from the multitude in dozens of different tongues. 
"Let us depart! the universal sun 

Confines not to one land his blessed beams ; 

Nor is man rooted, like a tree whose seed 

The winds on some ungenial soil have cast 

There, where it cannot prosper." 

Then began that linguistic and ethnic division of mankind, 
whereby the people were scattered on the earth "after their 
families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their na- 
tions." Radiating in ever widening circles from the central 
Shinar, they quickly occupied Babylon, Assyria, Phoenicia, 
Persia, India, Arabia, Egypt, and the Isles of the Gentiles. As 
years rolled on, change succeeded change in quick succession. 
Walled cities were built, monarchies were established, patriarch- 
ism was abolished, kings and priests were created and assigned 
their relative functions, arts and sciences and handicrafts of all 
kinds were encouraged, luxuries increased, vices multiplied, and 
wars were continuously waged between neighboring states and 
nations for dominion, riches, and for slaves that would pander 
to their indolence, their pomp, their amusements, and their 
passions. 

In this vortex of change, how would it fare with religion? 
We know the result through Holy Writ, through hieroglyphic 
and cuneiform tablets, through temples, obelisks, and written 
records. The worship of One True God grew weaker, fainter, 
less distinctive : while never entirely lost sight of in the mind of 
man, it became practically obliterated save among the wisest 
and best of the priesthood, and those few great minds in the 
outside world who have been and ever will be found loyal to their 
God. But as for the rest, for kings, chiefs, statesmen, soldiers, 
artisans, and the polymorphous mob, they wanted something 
more tangible, more visible, more' in touch with their own fickle 
sensations and emotions. To whom did they turn for what they 
craved? Authentic history is ever but a repetition of what has 
previously occurred ; and we find a ready parallel in the annals 
of the Jews, where we are told that when Moses was yet con- 



46 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

versing with God on Mount Sinai, the people came to the high 
priest, Aaron, and compelled him to fashion a golden calf which 
they worshiped and sacrificed thereunto. In the same way, and 
with the same mingled feelings of helpless ignorance, low cun- 
ning, and brute force, did the nations of old turn to their high 
priests, and demand, "Up, make us gods which shall go before 
us." And if Aaron, despite the visible and awesome surround- 
ings of the mount, the cloud, the pillar of fire, and the glory of 
the Lord, yielded to the senseless clamor of the Jews, can we 
blame the Aarons of an earlier period for obeying the mandates 
of an excited multitude? And as one, with the faint hope of 
shaming the people into sense, offered them a calf from the 
physical fire, so did the others, with the same faint hope, offer the 
conceptions of intellectual fire ; and as the Jews bowed down to 
and adored the glittering ornaments of their own ears, so did 
the older nations receive and worship the golden product of their 
own brains. Unable to resist, the high priests fell back on "the 
Science of religion," and from the fertile pages of the scientific 
story offered to the idol-loving mob gods in profusion, gods of 
the intellect, gods great and small. "You want gods of feasting, 
song, and wine ; gods of war, of peace, of rivers, seas, and 
groves? Here they are. You want gods of heaven, earth, and 
hell? We give them to you. Especially do you want gods, great 
gods around which will circle all the others, gods of the life 
within you, of the light around you, and of the love that sways 
you? Behold them! Here are Osiris — Bel — Mazda — Indra — 
Baal — Zeus ; here are Horus — Vul — Mithra — Agni — Melkrath — 
Apollo ; here are Isis — Ishtar — Armaiti — Ushas — Astarte — Aph- 
rodite. And if older gods than these you want, then you can 
invoke Amnion — II — Chaos, for these are the beginning of 
them all." 

As a forced alternative it was the best, the very best that 
could be done; preferable, surely, to a golden calf of earrings, 
since true science cannot be at variance with the word of God, 
unless, as in this case, science itself is deified. It was the only 
way whereby the semblance of the true worship could be pre- 
served among the populace ; the only way whereby the priests 
could conscientiously continue to officiate; for, if a temple were 
dedicated or a sacrifice offered to an Osiris or a Horus, to a 
Mazda or a Mithra, to a Zeus or an Apollo, these names, however 
deified by the vulgar, or materialized by the sceptic, were em- 
blematic to the priest of Him who is the Life and the Light. 



IN HOMER,, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 47 

And so it would proceed. As the centuries flowed by, the 
states and kingdoms would multiply. Impelled by overcrowding, 
the love of conquest, hate for their conquerors, by famine, 
drought, adventure's fever, or by the mere desire of change, whole 
bodies of people would migrate eastwards and westwards, to the 
north and to the south, in search of other settlements and a 
home; and ever with them went a chief to lead them, a priest 
to offer sacrifice for them, and a bard to sing their deeds. How 
fared it with religion then ? As with the ripples made by a stone 
thrown into the water. With each widening circle of the pioneers 
of nations did the Truth grow less and less distinct. The great 
faith-marks — God, the creation, primal man, the Deluge — were 
never wholly obliterated; but the Promised One became the 
shadow of a shade. And how fared it with the scientific story 
formulated in Noah's days? Distorted it grew, confused, blurred, 
grotesque, and less intelligible even to the priests and learned. 
It still, 'tis true, continued to furnish gods — a Thor, an Odin, a 
Manitou, a Njougmo, a Bura-Pennu, and (as a rule) distinct 
deities for life and light; but want of knowledge on the part of 
the priests, combined with climate, food, mode of war, and re- 
moteness from the civilization of the great empires of antiquity, 
narrowed, disfigured, or wholly obliterated the profound philo- 
sophical astronomical, and geological truths contained in the 
original, post-diluvial story of the heavens and the earth. 

Not so, however, with the mother countries where the tide 
of emigration had its origin. Here would God's worship and the 
landmarks of religion — the Promise included — be guarded, pre- 
served, handed down from one hierophant to another, and com- 
municated by him under oath to those within and outside of his 
own order who were distinguished for piety, probity, and an 
unswerving search for the paths of wisdom. Here, too, was the 
old scientific story well preserved, studied with the closest zeal, 
commented on, expounded, amplified and added to as knowledge 
grew apace. The only difference may have been that the nom- 
enclature was altered in most cases to suit the requirements of 
secrecy, language, habits and mode of living. A few names — 
like Chaos, Eros, Gaea, Erebus, Nox, Aether, and some others 
of the oldest forms of mind and matter — might have been left 
unaltered, as having nothing to fear from the comprehension of 
the vulgar and superficial ; but such technical terms as life, light, 
order, organization, weight, attraction, freedom, etc., that savored 
too well understood by the public at large. But the new names 



48 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

to suit the iclol-loving and wonder-liking tastes of the masses. In 
this way would the ordinary Egyptian, Assyrian, Iranian, and 
Hindoo terms for "life" become changed respectively into Osiris, 
Bel, Mazda, and Indra ; and in this way would the Greek ploq 
become the mighty Zeus. So too with "light" and other words 
too well understood by the public at large. But the new names 
would not be random ones ; on the contrary, they would be preg- 
nant with meaning, veritable "picture words" of the character- 
istics involved in the object or subject of the idea. To the Mys- 
tagogue, in particular, would be assigned this task, as also the 
construction of a genealogy and of suitable myths that would 
shroud, yet elucidate the phenomena of being; and to him, too, 
would come for enrollment among the Mystae the influential, 
wealthy, and better educated element, who disbelieved in the 
popular creed either from religious reasons or from intellectual 
ones, or because it was fashionable to differ from the opinions of 
the stolidum valgus. Partially instructed by the priests in the 
true nature of Pantheism, and confirmed in their doubts regarding 
the people's gods, the Mystae, as already noticed, had to spend a 
year at least before initiation in the Greater Mysteries could be 
obtained. It was a probationary term in every sense of the word. 
Since the private teachings of the Mystagogue had tended to 
show each mystic that Paganism was false in essence and 
fictitious as to worship, the latter had now a twelvemonth to 
examine and test the leanings and sincerity of his motives, to 
enter into and commune with his soul if so desirous, and to bal- 
ance a desire for the Truth against the pride of rank, of wealth, 
of social respect, and of the mere intellect. It was also a period, 
let it be remarked, that gave an ample opportunity to the mys- 
tagogue to find out through his agents the genuine character and 
dispositions of any mystic with whom he had been favorably im- 
pressed at Agrae. In this way was the truth guarded, and thus 
were mistakes avoided ; for, though it may have been that all 
the Mystae were introduced to and initiated by the hierophant, it 
does not necessarily follow that all were initiated to the same 
extent. The rites, as we have seen, were private and individually 
conducted; and while some signs, grips, and passwords may 
have been common to all, there would be certain others indicative 
of the degree attained by each. 

Each mystic came to Eleusis with the fruits of his year's 
probation. For many, the seed sown at Agrae had fallen upon 
the wayside ; for still more, upon stony ground ; and numbers 



(N HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 49 

there were for whom the seed had fallen among thorns. All 
of these were initiated to an extent commensurate with their 
capabilities and desires ; all these were allowed the bliss of gaz- 
ing at that (the auxcxjua) which they could individually see 
and understand; all these were "sounding vessels" or "unripe 
grapes," and were appropriately dismissed with a xoy£ or an o^iua£ 
"The bliss of man (could pride that blessing find) 
Is not to act or think beyond mankind ; 
No pow'rs of body or of soul to share, 
But what his nature and his state can bear." 
All these, as we say, saw and understood what alone their 
nature and their state could bear; some (to whom the life and 
light around them were the centre, circumference, and totality of 
existence) saw the scientific meaning of the gods as far back as 
Zeus and Apollo; others (more philosophically inclined), the 
physics and metaphysics involved in the older deities, from 
Aether to Chaos; and yet a few (more sceptical or more intel- 
lectual than the rest), the wide distinction between the oneness 
of being and the Oneness of God. All these went away self- 
approved — so much so as to make Plato say that participation in 
the Eleusinian Mysteries served to secure and strengthen a man in 
unrighteousness; all these went back to Athens as Epoptae on 
the seventh day, and were greeted at the bridge by those who 
had gone through a similar experience in the past, and were now 
desirous of ascertaining the degree of initiation attained by each 
accession to their ranks. There were some few, however, of the 
Mystae for whom the seed had fallen upon good ground, and who, 
through instinctive faith or exceptional intelligence, had spent 
their probation in anxious thought and inquiry after truth, the 
whole truth, and nothing but the truth. These were the novices 
over whom the mystagogue kept a distant watch, whose lives and 
dispositions were carefully scrutinized, and who were repeatedly 
tested for purity of motives and for their capability of keeping 
silence. Such persons would be welcome members among the 
true believers ; and for such, it is more than likely, were reserved 
the rituals of the eighth and ninth days at Eleusis, when the 
knowledge of Christ, the Healing One, would be imparted to 
them. These would be the real additions to the faith, the guar- 
dians of the Name, the Ephuroi ; yet even among these there 
may have been gradations, and a knowledge of the Trinity may 
have been reserved for those monarch minds who could see and 
analyze the errors that were best avoided, and still retain their 
reason. 



50 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Initiation in the Eleusinia, whether of Mystae, or of Epoptae, 
or of Ephuroi, had manifest effects for good. It satisfied the 
curiosity of those who might have proved troublesome, if not 
dangerous ; the bonds of initiation bound them in sympathy with 
the priests, just as the alumni of our universities are bound in 
affiliation with their professors ; the numbers, rank, wealth, polit- 
ical influence, and talent of the initiated, combined with the super- 
stitious reverence of the populace, enabled the priesthood to check 
that which was considered the greatest menace to religion, 
namely, a tendency to self-deification on the part of monarchs ; 
and it certainly afforded the surest and most feasible means of 
attracting the many for the purpose of garnering the few. One 
other thing it did : it caused to flourish, and flourish vigorously, 
the three great branches of knowledge — metaphysics, astronomy, 
and geology — so apt, through their nature and their study, to 
lead man's mind to God, and so intimately connected with the 
story of the heavens and the earth. This story is a triple one, 
as already explained in "The Gods of Old" ; and the same triple 
story of our earth that is told in the gods and myths of early 
Greece is told in those of Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, and the other 
great nations of antiquity. 

Here is one proof of the assertion. One of the greatest and 
most recent discoveries in our day connected with geology is that 
the dry land has, on a more or less extensive scale, been periodi- 
cally submerged and elevated ever since "the waters were gath- 
ered into one place and the dry land appeared." It served as a 
sure key to the architectural and biological structure of our 
globe, showing as it did how each stratified formation of the 
great pile was fashioned from the submerged ruins of its pred- 
ecessor, and then upraised above the world of waters; how up 
and down did the land go repeatedly during Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, 
and Cainozoic times; and how each time it went down, it came 
up for a ruler of living forms — now a mollusk or a fish, now a 
reptile, now a mammal. Let us describe one journey to and fro. 
Late in Post-tertiary time did terra firma meditate her last notable 
descent, and yearn for the depths where darkness reigns and 
whither all things tend. She sank, and ocean's floor groaned 
beneath her weight; she sank and knocked for admittance 
through the barrier — knocked long, knocked loud, with threats 
of earthquake that boded a still speedier devouring of the living 
freight as yet above the sea — knocked, till the fires within burned 
with a lurid light and shook with rage. Inch by inch the strong- 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 51 

hold yielded; and as it did, the swirling waves engulfed the 
plains, the hills, the highest mounts, the all of life above ; and as 
she entered was she stripped (as others before her were stripped) 
of all the ornaments that graced her person. The soil, rubble, 
and alluvium that crowned her were washed away; as also 
were the loose deposits of gold, silver, and of sand, of rubies, 
sapphires, topazes, and garnets, of emeralds, amethysts, and dia- 
monds — all of which had decked her head. Further in she went, 
and still was she denuded: the rocky girdle round her waist was 
fretted and stripped off by the action of the water; the veins of 
gold, thus exposed, shared the same fate; and, fused by friction 
and the intense heat below, so did the lowest strata of the same 
metalliferous product. Still did she sink ; sink till the last barri- 
cade gave way: and then consuming fires shot up — the tempor- 
arily riven crust closed round her with a grasp of steel — all her 
frame collapsed — and she, an erstwhile most beautiful formation, 
was now deranged and without form. 



Centuries rolled on, and while the formless one was battered, 
ground, harried, and stretched out for punishment in various 
ways below, her presence above was missed and mourned for by 
nature. The Sun, the Moon deplored her absence; the brightest 
rays of one, the effulgent radiance of the other were wasted on 
the fishes of the sea ; and till Mother Earth appeared there could 
be no real lord of life to say "I command," nor lesser being to 
respond with "I obey." Her presence was essential for the 
plans of Mind; and especially now when a prize far greater than 
a mollusk or a fish, than a reptile or ordinary mammal awaited 
her appearance — now, when the phantom of Man was beckoning 
her to come. And come she did, as well we know. The desire 
for life, for light, for elevation was infused into her being. Her 
dimensions were first traced in the depths and the garment of her 
form given back; within these circumscribing bounds did sort- 
ing, sifting, and congregation of particles proceed, the heaviest — 
such as gold — taking their place at her feet or striking east and 
west to her hands ; as she rose and flourished, her supple waist, 
absorbing ever the lime, silica, alumina, magnesia, etc., from the 
laving waters, was surrounded with a rocky girdle; as still she 
rose, there gathered together jewels for her brow, precious stones 
for her head, gold and silver for each ear ; and, as she neared the 
surface, all the debris and detritus, all the jetsam and flotsam 



52 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

of the ocean congregated on her head, and gave her back a 
crown, the counterpart of that which had been stripped from her 
in days gone by. 

This is the approved science of our text-books, and bears the 
imprimatur of geologists the world over. Is the theory origi- 
nal and the story new? Far from it; it was known and re- 
peatedly alluded to by all the Greek and Latin poets; before 
Hesiod and Homer wrote a line it was incorporated in the myth 
woven round a Hecate, a Prometheus, and a Hercules ; and 
what is more, before a Greek mythology was ever properly for- 
mulated, the theory was known to and the story told in full by 
the Babylonians and Assyrians. In proof of this we give below 
the descent of the Assyrian goddess, Ishtar, into Hades : it is a 
translation from the original by Mr. Fox Talbot; and we but 
ask the reader to compare it with the modern geologic version 
just described. 

To the land of Hades, the land of her desire, Ishtar, daugh- 
ter of the Moon-god Sin, turned her mind. The daughter of Sin 
fixed her mind to go to the House where all meet, the dwelling of 
the god Iskalla, to the house which men enter, but cannot depart 
from — the road which men travel, but never retrace — the abode of 
darkness and of famine, where earth is their food, their nourish- 
ment clay — where light is not seen, but in darkness they dwell — 
where ghosts, like birds, flutter their wings, and on the door and 
the door-posts the dust lies undisturbed. 

When Ishtar arrived at the gate of Hades, to the keeper of 
the gate a word she spake : "O keeper of the entrance, open thy 
gate! Open thy gate, I say again, that I may enter in! If thou 
openest not thy gate, if I do not enter in, I will assault the door, 
the gate I will break down, I will attack the entrance, I will split 
open the portals. I will raise the dead, to be the devourers of the 
living! Upon the living the dead shall prey." Then the porter 
opened his mouth and spake, and thus he said to great Ishtar: 
"Stay, lady, do not shake down the door; I will go and inform 
Queen Nin-ki-gal." So the porter went in and to Nin-ki-gal said: 
"These curses thy sister Ishtar utters ; yea, she blasphemes thee 
with fearful curses." And Nin-ki-gal, hearing the words, grew 
pale, like a flower when cut from the stem ; like the stalk of a reed, 
she shook. And she said, "I will cure her rage — I will speedily 
cure her fury. Her curses I will repay. Light up consuming 
flames ! Light up a blaze of straw ! Be her doom with the hus- 
bands who left their wives ; be her doom with the wives who for- 
sook their lords; be her doom with the youths of dishonored 
lives. Go, porter, and open the gate for her ; but strip her, as 
some have been stripped ere now." The porter went and opened 
the gate. "Lady of Tiggaba, enter," he said; "enter; it is permitted. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 53 

The Queen of Hades to meet thee comes." So the first gate let 
her in, but she was stopped, and there the great crown was taken 
from her head. "Keeper, do not take off from me the crown that 
is on my head." "Excuse it, lady, the Queen of the Land insists 
upon its removal." The next gate let her in, but she was stopped, 
and there the ear-rings were taken from her ears. "Keeper, do 
not take off from me the ear-rings from my ears." "Excuse it, 
lady, the Queen of the Land insists upon their removal." The 
third gate let her in, but she was stopped, and there the precious 
stones were taken from her head. "Keeper, do not take off from 
me the gems that adorn my head." "Excuse it, lady, the Queen of 
the Land insists upon their removal." The fouth gate let her in, 
but she was stopped, and there the small jewels were taken from 
her brow. "Keeper, do not take off from me the small jewels that 
deck my brow." "Excuse it, lady, the Queen of the Land insists 
upon their removal." The fifth gate let her in, but she was stopped, 
and there the girdle was taken from her waist. "Keeper, do not 
take off from me the girdle that girds my waist." "Excuse it, lady, 
the Queen of the Land insists upon its removal." The sixth gate 
let her in, but she was stopped, and there the gold rings were 
taken from her hands and feet. "Keeper, do not take off from me 
the gold rings of my hands and feet." "Excuse it, lady, the Queen 
of the Land insists upon their removal." The seventh gate let her 
in, but she was stopped, and there the last garment was taken from 
her body. "Keeper, do not take off, I pray, the last garment from 
my body." "Excuse it, lady, the Queen of the Land insists upon 
its removal." 

After that Mother Ishtar had descended into Hades, Nin-ki- 
gal saw and derided her to her face. Then Ishtar lost her reason, 
and heaped curses upon the other. Nin-ki-gal hereupon opened 
her mouth, and spake: "Go, Namtar, . . . and bring her 
out for punishment, . . . afflict her with disease of the eye, 
the side, the feet, the heart, the head" (some lines effaced) . . . 

The Divine messenger of the gods lacerated his face before 
them. The assembly of the gods was full. . . . The Sun came, 
along with the Moon, his father, and weeping he spake thus unto 
Hea, the King: "Ishtar has descended into the earth, and has not 
risen again ; and ever since the time that Mother Ishtar descended 
into hell, . . . the master has ceased from commanding; 
the slave has ceased from obeying." Then the god Hea in the 
depth of his mind formed a design; he modeled, for her escape, 
the figure of a man of clay. "Go to save her, Phantom, present 
thyself at the portal of Hades; the seven gates of Hades will all 
open before thee ; Nin-ki-gal will see thee, and take pleasure be- 
cause of thee. When her mind has grown calm, and her anger 
has worn itself away, awe her with the names of the great gods ! 
Then prepare thy frauds ! Fix on deceitful tricks thy mind ! Use 
the chiefest of thy tricks ! Bring forth fish out of an empty vessel ! 
That will astonish Nin-ki-gal, and to Ishtar she will restore her 
clothing. The reward — a great reward — for these things shall not 



54 



THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



fail. Go, Phantom, save her, and the great assembly of the people 
shall crown thee ! Meats, the best in the city, shall be thy food ! 
Wine, the most delicious in the city, shall be thy drink ! A royal 
palace shall be thy dwelling, a throne of state shall be thy seat! 
Magician and conjurer shall kiss the hem of thy garment!" 

Nin-ki-gal opened her mouth and spake ; to her messenger, 
Namtar, commands she gave: "Go, Namtar, the Temple of Jus- 
tice adorn ! Deck the images ! Deck the altars ! Bring out 
Anunnak, and let him take his seat on a throne of gold ! Pour 
out for Ishtar the water of life; from my realms let her depart." 
Namtar obeyed ; he adorned the Temple ; decked the images, 
decked the altars ; brought out Anunnak, and let him take his seat 
on a throne of gold ; poured out for Ishtar the water of life, and 
suffered her to depart. Then the first gate let her out, and gave 
her back the garment of her form. The next gate let her out, 
and gave her back the jewels for her hands and feet. The third 
gate let her out, and gave her back the girdle for her waist. The 
fourth gate let her out, and gave her back the small gems she had 
worn upon her brow. The fifth gate let her out, and gave her back 
the precious stones that had been upon her head. The sixth gate 
let her out, and gave her back the ear-rings that were taken from 
her ears. And the seventh gate let her out, and gave her back the 
crown she had carried on her head. 



Let us now return to that which most immediately concerns 
the purport of our work. While true religious knowledge was thus 
forced, as we see, to hide its head and take refuge among the few, 
the knowledge begotten of the original scientific story throve apace, 
and became deified among the many. In brief language, the 
Science of religion had become the Religion of science, and such 
it was fated to remain until the Master came. At Eleusis, how- 
ever, and at Isis, and at many another place that we know not 
of so well, was the lamp of faith kept ever burning for the coming 
of the Bridegroom ; and here was probably imparted the secret 
means by which His name could still be sounded throughout the 
Pagan world — a means that had been devised by unknown hands, 
and handed down from an age to which no date can be assigned. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 55 



CHAPTER. VI. 

THE CLASSIC CIPHER. 

Sec. i. The Wand of Circe. 

There were many cogent reasons, as we have shown, for not 
writing the Name in open fashion ; and, at the same time, there 
were several good reasons for writing it, provided the concealment 
were effectual. A partial mode of doing so, as already suggested, 
would be in the use of appellatives, since the same license allowed 
ourselves must be granted to the ancients. Not always do we 
employ the words "Christ" or "Jesus"; often as not we say the 
Redeemer, the Prince of Peace, the Saviour, the Way, the Truth, 
the Life, the Light, the Word, the Master, the Lord, the Son, the 
Good Shepherd, the Lamb, the God-man. All those could be used, 
and were used by the Greek and Latin writers. 

Like ourselves, too, they employed figurative modes of ex- 
pression; and a traditional Aesculapius who cured the sick and 
called the dead to life, or a Codrus who died voluntarily in order 
to save his people, or an Alcon who killed a serpent to save his 
son, or an Achilles who was to be bruised only in the heel — all 
those and others were types of our Saviour to the ancients, just as 
Adam, Noah, Moses and others are to moderns. The death of 
Socrates furnishes an excellent illustration of this figurative appli- 
cation. The philosopher knew the truth, had preached it — too 
openly and too early. Condemned to die, he could have saved 
himself by recanting; but this he would not do. Why? The 
answer is obvious. "If," said he, "you should set me free on those 
conditions, I would tell you, O men of Athens, that I wish you 
well and look upon you with love. But I shall obey God rather 
than you ; and whilst I breathe and am that which I am, I shall not 
cease to search after the truth, to commend it to you, and to point 
it out to whomsoever of you I may chance to converse with." 
While thus preferring martyrdom to apostasy, he recognized the 
futility of achieving success until "The fullness of time, the Healer 
himself" would come; and his last act was to acknowledge this, 
for he figuratively offered up himself to the Redeemer: he, 
who had crowed too early, was the cock; Aesculapius, the 
Saviour. 



5 6 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Still another way of writing the Name would be by symbols. 
One of these, the "Pythagorae figura," has been pointed out in 
"The Gods of Old," p. 376. 

But all those modes of naming were not thoroughly satisfying. 
Symbols were too intricate, figures too indefinite, and appellatives 
but a costly setting that lacked the precious gem. The Name itself, 
in its naked brevity, was worth them all ; and until this much in 
little was obtained, there could be no content. 

One of the simplest but most effective ways whereby a word 
can be concealed in written speech is that in which its combined 
letters, transposed or otherwise, are placed in the whole or part of 
one or more words. "Name," for instance, can be hidden in 
"mean," "humane," "give me an apple," "I am next," and "i« a 
measure" (where no transposition occurs). The deceit is not 
limited to single words or detached sentences. It can be em- 
ployed in lengthened and connected discourse, as the following 
example proves : — 

"Eager to hear Anselmo, and warned by neither sign nor 
omen of impending disaster, there entered from every opening 
crowds of people who, surging to and fro, met finally in the 
centre of the vast enclosure. The clamor ended, Anselmo, 
resting on his staff tipped with gold from ore of native source, 
addressed the multitude in words that breathed more of mod- 
eration than of anger: 

'If immediate danger moved within our midst, my 
friends, then would sermons be out of place, and room remain 
for little else but deeds; then, indeed, would the counsellor 
embarrass, the hero embolden. But fortunately for you, your 
families, and for me, the danger, though existing, is still re- 
mote enough to permit of sober deliberation.' " 
The foregoing serves to illustrate how the word "Rome" 
can be concealed repeatedly (fourteen times) ; and to show how 
feasible it is, with some patience and ingenuity, to hide any other 
word in a similar way without notably detracting from the natural, 
connected and easy flow of written speech. It remains for each 
reader to determine how quickly the hidden word dawned upon his 
intelligence; but it must be conceded that, unless he had been 
forewarned of the fact, the difficulties would have been much 
greater, and the probabilities are that, engrossed with the subject 
of discourse, he would have read right on and left the word un- 
noticed. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 57 

Such was certainly the case with the writings of the ancients, 
for in this way, simple and familiar as it is, did they baffle the 
profane; with this Circean wand of transposition were the names 
"Christ" and "Jesus" written time and again by Homer, by Hesiod, 
and by many another who wrote before and after their days ; and 
in this same way were other important names, such as "Mary," 
"Joseph," "Nazareth," "Bethlehem," "Jerusalem" and some others, 
concealed from all who were outside the inner circle. The advan- 
tages attached to such a mode of cipher writing are evident 
enough. To a certain extent it did not interfere with freedom and 
easiness of style ; it was suitable for all languages, for all kinds of 
writing, and could be employed by the poet or philosopher, the 
historian or biographer ; it fulfilled, too, the prescribed conditions, 
namely "a uniform mode of concealment, readily observable by the 
enlightened, but not by the profane" ; and it insured practical 
safety, since, if suspicion's eye-glance chanced to lour upon its 
weakest spot — a combination lacking transposition (like "name" 
in "in a measure") — the informer's jaws could be locked up by 
the plea of — a chance coincidence. 

Two objections to our assertion will rise instantly to the 
reader's lips : — 

1. A cipher so simple could not escape detection by the 
Pagan. 

2. The combinations, if existing, prove nothing. "Rome," 
for instance, may be concealed fourteen times, or forty if 
you will, in the illustration given. But what of that? 
Who thinks of it, any more than of Cairo, Caesar, Blanc, 
Volga, time, space, or any other name proper or common? 
Who can be expected to think of it, or to look for it, or to 
find it, unless suggestively directed to do so? And when 
the combination is noticed, what of it ? It may be "more" 
as well as "Rome" ; and, whether one or the other, it 
conveys no intentional concealment, fixed design, or ulte- 
rior motive on the writer's part, and may, therefore, be 
considered as a mere fortuitous grouping of letters. So, 
too, with the chance grouping of "Christ" or "Jesus" 
letters in the Greek or Latin text. 

Let us answer each of those in turn, first disclaiming any 
merit for our illustration save what must be granted it — a possible 
way of concealing our Lord's name in written and connected 
speech. 



58 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

1. The cipher, as already remarked, is not so simple as it 
looks to be when we know that transposition is employed ; and this 
key, the only one that will turn the wards, was unknown to the 
profane reader. His knowledge, also, was limited probably to that 
of two words, Christ and Jesus, the names of one who would 
come to war with tyranny and make man free, to war with idolatry 
and make men turn to the One God. Outside of those points, 
the pagan priests and rulers were not much concerned, and were 
in total ignorance. Herod, king and Jew though he was, did not 
know where Christ was to be born. Why should the pagan know 
more than Herod did, or as much ? This limited acquaintance with 
two names would necessarily hamper detection ; and so, too, would 
the apparent subject matter of what he read. Men do not look 
for the names of constellations in an arithmetical treatise, nor for 
historical personages in an essay upon psychology. Why, then, look 
for "Christ Jesus" in poems that had war, love, revelry, bucolic 
pleasantries, satire, or social topics for their surface theme? The 
theme distracted the pagan's attention and biassed his thoughts, 
biassed it to such an extent that dies usurpatus seemed only a for- 
tuitous grouping of letters, domuisse was passed by, the singing 
bird in avis est was left unnoticed, and pidlus cristatus was only 
an every-day term. 

Why, moreover, should the poets have been suspected of 
Christian teaching? We moderns have read their works as often, 
carefully, and critically as the pagans ever did ; and, in comparison 
with those latter, we certainly have entertained as high, if not 
higher, opinion regarding the poets themselves. But have we ever 
suspected them of Christian teaching? Have we ever given them 
credit for higher thoughts and a nobler theme? No; the pagan 
theme is our theme ; our constructions are those of pagan Greece 
and Rome ; and since the cipher has escaped detection by us, why 
should we expect the pagan world to have fathomed it? 

It is well to say, however, that the characteristically lettered 
and non-transposed form of the Name (as observed in "si es 
iuquam") was very seldom employed; that transposition was 
but one factor in the cipher; and that there was another (which, 
and the reasons for which, will be explained later on) affecting 
the letters themselves, and of such a nature as to defy detection 
by all outside the Christian pale. 

2. Coming to the second objection, it cannot be denied that 
a Christian circle of readers must have had reasons for the faith 
which it embraced and silently professed. To be Christians (we 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 



59 



use the term advisedly, since they called themselves "Christians"), 
they should know at least that there was One God, the creator 
of heaven, earth and man; a God who, in order to atone for 
man's original sin, would come to earth, be born of woman's 
seed, and be called Jesus, the Christ ; who would preach the 
doctrine of faith and hope in God, charity to all, and universal 
love; who would die upon a cross to prove His love, rise from 
the dead and ascend to heaven. 

This much the neophyte should know ; and to increase those 
details he was referred, if he could read (and reading could not 
have been very limited in early days, since even slaves like Aesop 
and Phaedrus could read and write), to the pages of certain 
philosophers and poets, and was also instructed in the mystery 
of cipher writing. The Christian, as a consequence, had ad- 
vantages which the Pagan lacked: he knew the fundamental 
truths of Christianity; he knew the poet's true intent and real 
theme; he knew the cipher; he knew what to look for in the 
page before his eyes. He could see (what the pagan did not) 
the pictured Name in dies w.mrpatus, domuisse, avis est, pullus 
meatus, and others like them — and, though noting them well, 
he, like the pagan, often passed them by. Why? Because for 
the time being they were fortuitous groupings, the privateers 
of ready speech, but with no royal commission from the poet to 
fight for the Name and subject he was writing of at the moment. 
Still, the Christian kept up the search until he found the key- 
word — the true and only vessel, with all its letters of marque 
properly signed, sealed and delivered, that tallied completely with 
the description. 

Had we offered a precious reward for the word concealed 
in our illustration, interest would have been excited, thought 
spurred, and (despite all the difficulties objected to) some one 
quickly made the richer; and had we added a codicil to it, 
stating that the hidden word was the name of a well-known city, 
then — we would be only insulting the reader's intelligence. Well, 
the early Christians looked for a rich reward — eternal life; that 
spurred their thoughts in searching for the word ; and that word, 
as they had been told beforehand, contained the name of their 
Redeemer. 

This, it will be noticed, nullifies one portion of the objection 
and brings us face to face with the real question at issue. Did 
the poets write the Name in the bare, bald fashion that "Rome" 
was written in our illustration ? Did they merely put it down and 



60 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

leave it so, without giving the reader a hint as to what they had 
done, and without admonishing him what to look for, where to 
find it, and how to recognize it ? 

Prose writers (Xenophon and Cicero, for example) indulged 
freely in this method, though often with a certain indescribable 
suggestiveness that sets the well-prepared mind to thinking; so, 
with marked frequency, did some of the poets (notably Plautus 
and Terence). But the great lights — Homer, Hesiod, Euripides, 
Sophocles, Aeschylus, Vergil, Horace, Ovid, and others — dis- 
dained such half-way procedures or (as Ovid sarcastically styles 
them) "the silent noddings of tyros" in the magic art of con- 
cealing in order to reveal. Those artists selected a picture word 
or phrase embracing the Name, and then painted it in most sug- 
gestive language, oftentimes with a wealth of speech that beggars 
description. They forgot nothing. Sense, sound, pause, scan- 
sion, punctuation and alliteration were summoned to their aid; 
so was simile; so were the location of the word, the length 
or shortness of the combination, the shape of the letters, the 
communion of one letter with another or others, the anagram- 
matical changes capable of being formed from the key-word in 
whole or in part, the pictures (real pictures) evoked by the pencil 
when uniting with dashes and intersecting curves the letters of 
the Name in orderly array, the happy accident that made the 
Name read straight or free from transposition — all those and 
others (but anagrams particularly) were enlisted by the poet in 
order to fasten the reader's eye upon the Name word and to keep 
his attention concentrated thereon. It may be said, in brief, that 
if it be possible (and who will deny that it is?) for mere words to 
point out the written Name without actually mentioning it, the 
credit of so doing must certainly be conceded to those early work- 
ers in the vineyard. 

Did not this descriptive language, it may be asked, afford a 
clue to the pagan as well as to the Christian ? No ; why should 
it? The pagan looked at the picture word with a different 
eye, and read the descriptive language with a different intent. 
To him the first was but one word out of many in the poem, 
sometimes a most ordinary word that seemed but to pad the 
metre, oftener a word that apparently contained only two letters 
of the Name, or one, or none at all. He might suspect, it is true ; 
but so long as he was ignorant of the cipher and of the existence 
of a cipher, it was only natural for him to read the descrip- 
tive language — just as we read it to-day. Has it afforded any 
clue to us? 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 61 

So far we have pointed out only one mode of concealing 
the Name, viz. : that distinguished by transposition ; and since 
this factor in the cipher is nearly identical with the anagram, 
it would be instructive and interesting to discover when and by 
whom the anagram was first used, seeing as we do that it 
forms the basis for concealing the Name in the earliest and 
latest classic works, and that it furnishes the means of making 
one set of words convey two meanings. Like the enigma, how- 
ever, its beginning is lost in the night of ages; but we are dis- 
tinctly told that the Jewish cabalists were professed anagram- 
matists, and that they relied much on the efficacy of themuru — 
the mystical meanings resulting from transposing and combining 
in different ways the letters of important Biblical words and 
names. One thing is certain: no other mode of expression is 
equal to it for varied changes, quick transition and effective con- 
cealment. It is at once the chemistry of words and the embodi- 
ment of nice deceit. The enigma is an open challenge to inquiry ; 
the epigram leaves a trail ; the palindrome sounds its own knell ; 
the acrostic, like the ostrich, hides only to reveal; but the ana- 
gram is the very personification of craft 

'By which deceit doth mask in visor fair, 
And cast her colors dyed deep in grain, 
To seem like truth, whose shape she well can feign, 
And fitting gestures to her purpose frame, 
The guiltless man with guile to entertain." 

It is the chemistry of words. It changes "cleric" into 
"circle"; "merit" into "remit" and "mitre"; "name" into "mean," 
"mane," "amen" ; and "live" into "evil," "vile," "veil," "Levi." 
Like the Polyphemus of old, it laughs at the "gods" whom it 
transforms into "dogs" ; and it spares no linguistic matter, since 
of "corpus" it makes "porcus," "procus" and "cur ops" ; and of 
dpeTTQ it makes exec piq, I p ax-q and piq Tea. A multiplicity of 
ingredients adds but to its strength. It changes "Love is a pearl 
of purest hue" into "A plea, if sure, to help us over" ; it conyerts 
"Quid est Veritas?" into "Est vir qui adest." When Galileo 
wanted to say "Cynthiae figuras aemulatur mater amorum" 
("Venus has phases like the moon"), he took refuge in this ver- 
bal chemistry and wrote "Haec immaturae a me jam frustra 
leguntur — oy" ; and when Parmenides (ages before Galileo) 
wanted to say "xb jielov xevx' 'Itqqo u q" ("Jesus is called the 



62 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Lamb"), he fled to the same resource and wrote "ov Ksti, injov 
our. eatt." 

What more can chemical force do to matter than does this 
anagram to words? It attacks and resolves their elemental parts, 
the letters ; it unites them again, and yet again, and successively 
forms new combinations with totally different properties ; it 
neither adds to nor subtracts from the sum total of that on which 
it acts ; it flirts with the elementary parts themselves and renders 
them allotropic — for what is C but U, and L but V, and M but W, 
and N but Z? 

But in doing this last, it encroaches on the proper workings 
of an agency which is now to be explained. 

Sec. 2. The Magic of Letters. 

While the letters of XptcTo<; and 'I^aouq admit respectively of 
5,040 and 720 different modes of arrangement, those figures 
(owing to the repetition of cr in each word) must be cut down to 
2,520 and 360; and, if out of those we take the number of im- 
possible combinations, there will probably be left but 1,200 of 
the one and 180 of the other that are workable. This gives a 
ratio of about seven to one in favor of "Christ"; and, as the 
poets aspired to writing one name as freely as the other, the 
question naturally arose as to whether some means could be 
devised whereby the chances would be equalized. 

Another impelling motive was the fear that a constant jux- 
taposition of certain letters would ultimately prove a source of 
danger and discovery, especially in the case of "Jesus," where 
the paucity of combinations, if continued through a succession 
of paragraphs, would make some or all of the letters sound in- 
cessantly to their own betrayal. This can be proved by actual 
trial, and is fairly well exemplified by reading aloud the few 
manufactured sentences in which "Rome" was hidden, and mark- 
ing how the letters of the word, o and r particularly, strike the 
ear with suspicious dominance and reiteration. 

Still another motive was the dead weight of the task, and 
the comparative loss of freedom by close coupling of the author- 
ized letters. It was but mere transcription, in a sense, since 
liberty was restricted by a syllabus of combinations limited 
enough to be written on a single sheet and copied by any writer. 
If, for instance, we desire to fashion "Jesus" from such a prom- 
ising word as "die," we are compelled to choose from a sparse 
vocabulary beginning with sus, uss, ssu — and even some of those 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 63 

are not available. Thought, imagination, euphony, brilliancy and 
fluency are crippled by the dead weight of letters, and a dreary 
sameness is the inevitable result. 

To defy detection, then, to write one name as freely as 
another, to write the Name whenever and wherever they desired, 
to make every word a soldier of the cross and make every avenue 
of thought lead to "Christ" and "Jesus" — to do all those, a some- 
thing else was demanded besides Transposition. That affected 
only the order of letters; but the obstacles, in this case, resided 
in the letters themselves ; and, in order to overcome it, a second 
factor was embodied in the cipher, viz. : Metamorphosis. 

Metamorphosis may affect a simple substance in two ways: 

(a) by changing its nature and properties so as to produce 
something totally dissimilar — as when carbon is con- 
verted into the diamond, or the yelk of an egg into a 
chicken. 

(b) by changing its outward form — as when water is 
turned into ice, or a caterpillar into a butterfly. 

The first species of change may be called Transmutation; 
the second, Transformation ; and it is under those two heads that 
the metamorphic changes in letters will be now considered. 

1. Transmutation — which is nothing more or less than the 
dialectical change of one letter into another — affects both vowels 
(diphthongs included) and consonants. Though familiar to the 
reader, the changes are given here for the purpose of ready ref- 
erence, and their effects upon words (accompanied by transpo- 
sition) are set in the margin so as to train the eye for actual com- 
binations found in the writings of classic poets. 

(a) Dialectical vowel changes. 

[The changes usually allowed in the cipher are marked in capitals; 
the others are seldom used except in the cases authorized in our 
lexicons. It is also well to note that two of the Greek vowels 
(17 and w) are post-Homeric forms; and that the diphthongs se 
and ce, though foreign to the Greek tongue, were used (by a 
species of synizesis for writing 'Iaeo-oOs, 'Ioeo-oCs.] 



6 4 



THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



fj.r]84 'ASdfi, dis alaa, 
6Vos eldos, \ed>s t'Xews, 
vop.h Matovta, (xPW"^ or) 
Kpevrbs Kpeurrbs. 



6pp.oi Mapta Maplrj, 
pbyos p-iyas, dbp.os p.v8os, 
vbos vaOj. 



i)5oj 656s, dvpa% Swrijp. 



A changes into E or H, or ft, v, av ; as in 

dpar\v epa-qv, aocpia <jo<p'n\, 
<TTpar6s crrporbs, avdptxnros 
&vdpu)Tros, adp£ <rvp£, #Xo£ 
avXai;. 
E or H " A, Al, El, t, o or w, i/, eu ; as 

in arrfKri crrdXa, T\7]iradr)% 
T\anra6rjS , tap clap, eo-rta 
iffrir], ytp-os ybp.os, olKyryp 

0lK7]T0}p, Bp^TTtOt BpVTTWt, 

5to/j.a.i 8e\jop.ai* 
[The use of e for at and et does not 
depend on dialect alone, as ob- 
served later on.] 
I changes into y, v, et, ev ; as in lp.4pa yp.ipa l 
'twos tivvos, (\r) etXrj, rap.is 
rapev%. 
or ft " A, E or H, V, i, ev, oi; as in 

dvia dvia, y\o<pepbs y\e<pvp6s, 
vXoyevrjs vXrjyevfjS, 6pvis ip- 
m, alyovbp.o% aiyivbp.os, viw- 
vbs vloivevs, arod aroid. 
V " or ft, a, i, at, ot; as in 

crvpa crrbp-a, xeXvvy X e ^^ p V, 
Pvdbs pddos, j3i)/3Xos /3//3\os, 
vypvvu vypaivw, vbvov oUvov. 
[Another and a very important change 
of V will be noticed in the conso- 
nant changes.] 

The following additional examples will give the reader a 
good idea of the many advantages in the way of descriptive writ- 
ing that accrue from the cipher through vowel changes alone : 
e'Xoq can be read asaXoq, Xaoq, Xaaq, aXaq, ii'koq, Xuyjs, eiXu£, eYXax;, 

Xeloq and YJXcoq; 
yptxuq " yf)pu<;, y^ptoq, yapog, dyp<5<;, dpyd?, dpya^'pdcyo?, 

'pwyoq, 'puydq and uypoq. 
(b) Dialectical consonant changes. 

[Independently of dialect, the letters in each of the three following 
groups — /3, it, cp -, y, k , x ; 5, 6, r ; styled respectively the labial, palatal 
and lingual mutes — were considered equivalent to one another, 
since they differ only in hardness of sound; and, as a consequence, 
any letter that could be used dialectically for one member of a 
group could be used for the other members of the same group. 
It must also be noted that three of those letters (<p, x, 0) and two 
others (£ and yp) are post-Homeric forms. 

The normal cipher changes are written, as before, in capitals; 
the others, though mentioned in the lexicon, are not regular con- 
stituents of the cipher through dialect, but some (those noted un- 
der v. y, X, v ) are obtained through another factor to be ex- 
plained later on.] 



Cipher Illustrations, 
ydvos yevos, datos 'lycrbs, 
effds 9e6s, o-ywia 'luo-qir, 
IlaXXds 7re\X6s. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 65 



V changes into B, n, <t>; X; as inAaitfS 

Aa/3i?5 ; avKV&v oKkv&v. 
B " n, ♦, V; 7; as in BOuir- 

1T0S IIl\l7r7rOS QlXlTTTTOS, K&- 

(}■>]!■ Kavr)!; ; (3avd yvvr). 

T " K, X; X, p, 7T, ; as in 

yvdwrta kv&tttw, 6e\ylv reX- 
Xlv; yrj'iov \-ffiov, y\^x uv 
/SXifowi', kayap6s ~ka.Tra.p6s. 

A " ©, T, Z; f ; as in o-%e5p6s o"x e - 

0p6s, fj.affd6s /uacrris, 65^, 
da - /*?}; Aefo ZeiJs. 

Z " Z; 5; as in frfitivr] (riptivr); 

fdiredov odireoov. 

" T,A, Z; as in Kiddiv x LT & v > 

\pib0os ipevdos , Svdp,rj 8vap.f). 

K " T, X; as in <rkXos o-fyXos, 

Kidtbv x lT & v - 

A " P» v> y, p, jt, <p ; as in kX£- 

/faws tcplfiavos; /36XXa povXf), 
jt6Xts p,6yts , x ov ^P^ os X ov ' 
Sptfios. 



s; as in ep/tu'j' e/)ju£s. 

TZ, KZ, XZ, Z; as in 

££<pos crid<pos, frpds crxep6s, 

B,<t>,V; as in irdXXw /3dX- 
Xw TrdTyij cpdrvr). 
A; as in adpirri ffdXirr]. 
Z, A, 0, T; as in a-Qs fys, 
to-fiev %8p.ev, irapaevbs irapde- 
v6s, crd<r(ru) admo. 
0, A, Z; as in rpav\6s dpav- 
X6s, Ta7r(s ddwis , ^dXarra 
0dXa(ro-a. 

B, n, V; as in <pa<TKalvu} /3a- 
ffKatvu, acpSyyos cnr6yyos. 
r, K; as in /3p<?x<"« ifyxfy- 
jua, x°P wv ^ Kopwv6s. 
BZ, nZ, <t>Z, Z; as in ^6Xos 
&Vj8oXos, \pd\iov <Tird\iov, \pt 
<X(pt, yplrra alrra. 



Cipher Illustrations, 
'lov 'Iw/3, iieXos 7reX6s, atir6s 

(par6s. 
/3o0s Troijsfidpos d<ppbs $$7} Eta. 



7cuas Icadx, 7677s x^ 05- 

Aetfs Qe6s , p.a.86s a'rSp.a, %8w 

TjdllS. 

6ap,d 'Addp. Bed 8,rr),<=dvos vijeros. 
tcuu)v y6vv, icdpy] x&P - 
rAos 2wtt5/o. 



6%6 760?, Tpi£6s Kpurrds, £^w 
%dos, dfios 'Irjads. 

TTotis POVS, fflWITT) '10X771$, <TL(l3- 

irrjs 'IricroOs. 
p.tpos "SaXrjp.. 
vios t&vri, a.ffp.a. Addp.. 
erttifw 8e6s, Kpurcrbs Kpiarbs. 

6'sre 8e6s, &ropx>s "A8ap.os, lbrr\s 
'Itjct6s. 

pjop<t>T] 'Afipdp., d(pp6s Trtpas, X6- 

0os oCXos. 
Xpeci ttpyia, r)x& <3«a. 

dfis jSdo-ts, df Traj, (Si/' (pus. 



To give an example of what dialect can accomplish, let us 
again take skoq and see what transposition along with vowel and 
consonant changes can effect. Since the X of skoq changes 
into p, and the q into X,, 8, 0, t, the consonant groupings of the 
word will be \q, pq; Xt;, p^; XB, pS; X0, p0; Xt, P t. The first of 



66 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

those (\q) has been run already through its changes: those 
resulting from the others now follow in their order. 

"Apr)q, apoq, "A'ipoq, epoq, dpoq, hpoq, ep<7Y), epaac, Yjpax;, pdoq, p*atoq, 
§ioq, $oaq, pu<xq, topajt, aatpw, aeipa, Hupt'a; ; Xirjt^o), Xta'Cw, £d^a), 
pat'Cw, pe^co, ^aXt), ^Y)Xd>, £,scpd ; dX3d>, A^Ba, AuBtq, Auoca, ByjXy], 
BY]Xta, Ss(Xy), sloap, poSa, 'Poot'a, peSr], u'Spa, Sairjp, Aatpa, ospY], oepw, 
8s(pw, Sat'pa), Scspa>, Bstpr), oopa, oopY), Beupt, Btopa, opdco; dGXa, 
dOXd), dOXoc, dXOa), "AGupc, Xy]6w, XyjQy], XtOdw, 0eXw, GyjXt], GyjXu, 
GaXfa, 0Xdw, d0p<o, 6p0Y), opOca, £oOca, ^sGyj, 0Y]pa, Grjpta, GYjpd), Gop-q, 
GupY], Giipai, Gpuoc; Ayjtw, Xjjxa, Xyjctjc, Xdnra, Xuty], Xuxac, tsXu), 

TY)Xs, TYJXl), TY)XoC, TY]XtGC, TuXy], tXcCCO, dpTG), CtpTOt, CtpTta, YJTtop, YjTptOC, 
pY]T«, pYJTY], j$Y]TOC, (Smd, ^UXat, TapOC, TSt'pG), TSlpY], Tp£G), TpOia. 

Here, formed from the four-lettered ekoq, is a list of over 
one hundred anagrams, and, large as the number is, it could be 
doubled were we to put down proper names, case-endings of 
nouns and adjectives, inflexions of verbs, and the many anagrams 
we have overlooked. 

Reviewing now what Metamorphosis has done for the Name, 
we find that five letters (a, e, yj, o, g>) can be used for yj, four (a,o, 
a>, u ) for o, three ( o, w, u ) for u, three ( y, x, x ) f° r *> 
two (X, p) for p, four (o, 0, q, t) for t, and five (c, £, G, q, t) 
for <; (not to mention the latent capabilities residing in £ ); 
and that the poets had consequently eighteen letters to draw from 
in writing 'IyjctoD?, and nineteen in writing Kptcxo?. Since the 
permutations in each case run up to many millions, the writing 
of the Name itself was immensely facilitated; and the long list of 
words derived from ekoq shows how material would not be lack- 
ing for painting the Name if it were contained in eloq. And per- 
haps it is. As yet we have laid bare only half the wizardry of 
this wondrous cipher; and fertile as that portion is, the other 
half is equally if not more productive. 

2. Transformation, the second phase of Metamorphosis, is 
next to be considered. While transmutation affects the essence of 
a thing (for one vowel or consonant is as different from its dia- 
lectical other as carbon is from the diamond), transformation 
affects its form ; and this it does in two ways — 

(a) by allotropism, or a different arrangement of the parts; 

(b) by alloyage, or combination with something else. 
Starch and dextrine exemplify the first; brass, the second; 

and examples of each kind are not lacking in the alphabetical 
laboratory. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 



6 7 



(a) Allotropic changes. 

Since every letter is a figure, then (according to the estab- 
lished geometrical definition) any two or more letters contained 
by similar planes, equal to each other in number, magnitude and 
inclination, are equal in every respect, however much they differ 
in position. 

The allotropic letters are comprised in the following three 
groups : 

V, T, A; Z, N; M, Z. 
[It may not be amiss to state that the old Greek form for upsilon 
was a reversed lambda ( V), and that the gamma character had its 
upper stroke inclined somewhat downwards ( T ) , not at right 
angles.] 

The efficacy of this agent in the cipher depends on the fact 
that each member of an allotropic group is both equal to and 
identical with its mates (as readily observed by viewing them 
when more or less reversed). M for instance is equal to E 
and is an I ; so with the others. But while M regarded as I, 
changes into that letter's dialectical equivalents ( £,, 8, 0, %), those 
equivalents cannot change into or be used for M ; so with the 
others ; and this distinction must be carefully noted if we wish 
to avoid a maze of errors. 

When fully evolved, the allotropic changes run as follows : 

Cipher Illustrations. 
and hence into K, X eStos Hyios, <rvpl<rdw Kpurrds, 

V changes into -j "Lvpia Xdpis. 

avT/xri SaAi^u. eiivfj avfjp. 
fV 0,J2,B,n,<l> yoiyris 'Ir)<rovs, ytiXios otfXtos, 

71/a aiju, yXeivos Alfiavos, 
dyios dirios, yrj'ios 'Iwo-//(p. 
P #7705 #\Aos, pdyp.a ' APpdp.. 

0,J2,B,n,<l> Xdcrtos 'Irjaovs, /xiXc ifioi, rrj\e 
drdw, fj.&\os (3up.6s, Xyj/na 
W7jp.a t XeTos '\uai\<p. 
K. X p.i\as p.iyas, \vpM kv/jm, £\oj 

Xdos. 

Z N Ze?w Nwe. 

N Z Z vovs fo6s, e cos 'Ir)ff6s. 

M I Z,A,0,T fieiov '\t)(t6s, co/xt; fibvii, id/ppa 

5<xKpu, dap/q 0e6s, ic\i<r(i6s 
Kpi<rr6s. 
<reipd Mapla. 

To illustrate further, let us once more take sXoq and note a 
few (and only a few) of the many anagrams obtainable from it 
by allotropism : 



68 



THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



oCos, evtos, vieijs ; "Awoj, cto6a and etoida, oidOe, ovre, i^os ; /36es, f5r)cru, 
rjpds ; 67T0S, irCjp.0., 7r?;6s ; ((pys, <pa.os, 0cu6s, <£0<ra ; uayq, <tvktj } ^dos. 

And what has this agent done for the Name ? It has enlisted 
two new recruits (N,M) for q, an additional one (M) for x, and 
has brought into action a doughty triad of warriors ( V, r, A ) 
prepared to sacrifice their lives, each one of them for the o or u 
of Ttjjou?, and the x or p of Kpta-idq. 

(b) Alloying changes. 

Since the whole is equal to the sum of its parts, T is equal to 
II, M is equal (according as we divide it) to AA, Nl, All or IVI 
or VT; and the same rule holds good for every alphabetical char- 
acter formed by the union of two or more letters. 

The following list shows how abundant those literal alloys 
are, and the parts into which they can be separated. Those parts 
are evident to the eye in every instance excepting the division of 
E into I K I, an important and frequent change. It is accom- 
plished thus: — E=irr (division)=IAA(allotropism)=IM(union of AA) = 
IVT (division of M)=IKI (allotropism and dialect). 

Cipher Illustrations. 
A is separated into Tl, IT; Al, IA. 

B PO; 100; 1010 

(So is the English OE combined 
nto and written CE.) 
Al, IV 

ii, iki; rri; Til; ITI 
ni ; nr. 



ZKAPOZ K P Lff T 6s; "ATH \mj. 
BV2A 6pvfa, BAABIZ Xoipahs, 
BOZ (or /3tDs) dfxoioi. 



Al, IV 



H 


Tl, IT 


e 


01, 10 


K 


VA, IV 


M 


AA; Nl, All or AT, IVI 




or VT 


N 


Al, IV 


H " 


III or IT or Tl 


n 


n, IA 


p 


10; 101 



AE0I y\ios, AHM0Z 'l V (Tovi. 

'AENA0Z ava^ios (or avdic<rios), 

Z 11 E(or cr0w<?) <r(plyyu,' EAAH 
Xtyeia, 

'EM A rtfial," ET0Z *■/*<«,' AAEA 

irXayd. 

ZHA0Z XdXws, MAZ0Z 'l v - 
crovs. 

ZKHPOZ Kpi<rr6s. 

oiz r«. 

KAPA \av P a, ZHKOZ 'IrpraOs. 
EMOZ i\\6s, MEAOZ Ne?Xos. 
MAKOZ'IX^s. 
NAOZi'Xaos, NHZOZ 'I v <tovs. 
EANIAraura. 

AonoEXo^s, nfoN "iw. 

THP (or 6-fip) 6eol 0e?oi. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 69 













Cipher Illustrations. 


Z is separated into AA ; Nl, 


All 


or 


AT, 


IVI 


ZAI"0Z 7d\\os, "OX toy, 


or VT 










'AAO'AZ 'lovdala. 


T " II 










"ATH alel. 


<t» " 01, 10 










4>AA0Z cu'oXos. 


X " VA 










XAOZ iiaXos. 



While it is true that the whole is equal to the sum of its 
parts, it is equally true that the sum of the parts is equal to the 
whole ; and, as a consequence, II can be used for T, Tl for A, 
AA (or its other divisions) for M or Z, and so on, no matter, 
whether those parts be in juxtaposition or separated — as in 
E"IK0ZI xexoq, "AAAOZ crco^a, AAAIA ataa. These reunions are fre- 
quently employed for A, M, Z, T; occasionally for B, E, P; very 
rarely for the remaining letters. 

Let us once again take "EAOZ, and mark the anagrams 
obtainable by dividing Z into its parts — EAOAA, EAONI, 
EAOAII or EAOAT. 

EAOAA — |5dXXa>, irdXXoj, KoWa, TroWrj, trpoKa, Ktf/cXa, Kriirpa, kXo7t17, Kpv<pT] t KO^prj, 

Kbpp-q, \vypd, \virpa. 
EAONI — Xijtov, eiriwv, airiuv, Nto/377, iroivf), Kovirj, /cotvi}, x^ val t eSios, 

Xeios. 
EAOAII — fiXXos 'EXXds, XdXos, ip.6s, p.Qaa, eros, e0os, £5os, CeXos, kX^os, KaX6s, 

■n-qXSs, 0dXos, (p&pos, 7<r\u>s, yijpvs, ypavs, 0770s, iyyjs, XP^, Ktyas, 

eX5wp, rp£x u > T^piro). 

Long as this list is, it could easily be doubled ; and were we 
to employ its divisional parts for E, and their combined divi- 
sional parts for E and Z, it can readily be understood how the 
list would be swelled in proportion. Space forbids; but we give 
one example to show how this alloyage factor can accomplish 
what dialect or allotropism or both together could not do — 
the graving of the Name from ekoq. Since E is equal to El 
through dialect (or through alloyage, for the I- Tl parts of E are 
equal to I A or IE), "EAOZ changes into ITIAOVT orTqad?. 

The above list suggests what alloyage can do for descriptive 
writing. What has it done for the Name? It has made two ears 
of golden corn grow where once there was but one — has made 
Z produce (AA or) ou for 'Iyjctou?, (AA or) xp for KpiaToq, and 
has made the same Z produce (VT or) oq for both 'Irjuouq and 
KptaToq. It has done more; it has made three ears grow from 
one — has made E produce ixq for Kpu-uoq; yes, and four ears, 
for the same I KZ changes into xptcr for Kpicxdt; and into tou? for 



70 



THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



But the chief merit of alloyage rests upon its general, not 
special, action. If the reader glances over the tabulated list of 
divisions, he will notice how in almost every instance one of the 
parts obtained is I — the letter which dialect aided not, and which 
allotropism could not touch. To this I, the defenceless head of 
'1 t) (7 o q, has alloyage brought relief, and brought it with no 
niggard hand. 



malas Salem, artus torus. 



deme Adam. 



Coming now to the Latin cipher, we find it to be a close 
copy of the Greek one, varied somewhat by the difference of 
alphabetical characters, and based like the Greek upon trans- 
position, dialect, allotropism and alloyage. 
(a) Dialectical vowel changes. 

[ I and J were considered as one character, and so were U and V. 
Though foreign to the Latin tongue, ou has been found in old in- 
scriptions, and is used in the cipher for writing "Iesous"; ae and 
oe frequently interchange, and are often written together (M, CE).] 

Cipher Illustrations. 
A changes into E, 0, i, u ; as in cepa cepe, 

paean paeon, boscas boscis, 

cruralis crurulis. 
E " " A, i, o, u; as in camera 

camara, larex larix, ver- 
tex vortex, annellus an- 

nulus. 
I [While a, o, u, can 

change into i, the change 

of i into any of those let- 
ters is not favored in 

writing, and specially so 

in the cipher.] 
" " A, E, V, i; as in coelebs 

caelebs, certo certe, 

ador adus, chamaerophes 

chamaeriphes. 
V " 0, i, as in ebur ebor, 

lubido libido. 

[Another change of V, 

corresponding with the 

Greek, will be found in the 

next section.] 

The following illustrations serve to show the flexibility of 
Latin when affected by the cipher through mere vowel changes : 

Altus reads latus, talus, letos, lotos, lotus, stola, salto. 
Melos reads malus, meles, moles, almus, Salem, salmo, semel. 



video Iudea, 
sopor purus. 

ubi lob. 



sudo Deus, 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 



71 



(b) Dialectical consonant changes. 

[The remark made in the Greek section corresponding to this ap- 
plies to the following three groups — b, p, f ; c, g, q, k; d, t.] 

Cipher Illustrations. 
virtus tribus, acus pax (or 
pacs), auctio i actio, 
ebur pure, bonus funus, 
faber vafer. 



V changes into B, P, F; as in verna berna, 

vicanus paganus. 
B " " P, F, V; as in sebum sepum 

sevum. 
C " " G, Q, K; as in cycnus 

cygnus, quercetum quer- 

quetum. 
D " " T, S, z; as in adfines at- 

fines, ludus lusus, deus 

Zeus. 
F " " B, P, V; as in fanum 

phanum, faticinus vati- 

cinus. 
G " " C, Q, K; as in gobio cobio. 

H " " E; as in BHNH MHRHN- 

Tl. 

[inscriptional for bene 

merenti; and the change is 

warranted for another reason 

to be explained later. 
H, as a letter, is often 

omitted, as in hedera 

edera, halec alec, hordeum 

ordeum, etc.] 
K " " C.G.Q. 

[K, as a letter, lapsed into 

disuse at an early date.] 
L " " R; as in lemuria remuria. 

M " " S; as in arvum arvus. 

N " " s ; as in barbiton harbitos. 

P " " B, F, V; as in Canopus 

Canobus, sulphur sulfur, 

palus vallus. 
Q " " C, G, K; as in colliquiae 

colliciae. 
R " " L, s ; as in perlego pellego, 

arbor arbos. 
S " " M, T, D, Z; as in baculus 

baculum, orsus ortus, vi- 

sens videns. 
T " " D, S; as in citaris cidaris, 

epiglottis epiglossis. 



acer ager, caulis 
calendae kalendae. 



qualis, 



domus motus, judex secius. 



feror ruber, 
faber verba. 



fons pons, 



regno cerno, gaulus qualus. 



hau Eva. 



mola amor. 

metor Soter. 

antrum astrum. 

porta turba, aper afer, epos 



quare rauca, qua ago. 

tumor multo. 

aries Maria, ramus turma, 
assa Adam, aes zea. 

amat Adam, pater asper. 



72 



THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



pyxis piscis, pyla lupa. 



Cipher Illustrations. 
X changes into CS, GS, QS or KS; S; as atrox scorta, larex lares, 
in mixtura mistura. 
[In cipher reading the 
parts (cs, etc.) arc usually 
taken for x.] 
Y " " I, V; as in pyrus pirus, 

philyra philura. 
Z " " S, d; as in badizo badis- 

so, zeta diaeta. 

[Words having a consonant doubled in the middle can be written with 
a single one, and vice versa; as cella cela, ciccum cicum, cottona 
cotona, cupa cuppa, cupedo cuppedo, Jupiter Juppiter.] 

Pursuing the method previously employed, let us take altus 
and touch its consonants with the magic of dialect. It changes 
into artus ; aldus or alsus ; altum, altut, altud or altuz ; arsum, 
etc.; and those (employing vowel changes and transposition) 
give the following anagrams : — artus, ortus, ratus, torus, thraso, 
sator, Soter; dolus, Delos, salus, solus; altum, letum, lotum, 
telum, multa, multo; arsum, armus, ramus, tumor, mutor, sermo, 
tremo. 
(c) Allotropic changes. 

The allotropic pairs are C, U; V, L; N, Z ; but, since u 
and v are one and the same letter, C becomes, consequently, equal 
to and identical with V and L. The allotropic letters would thus 
consist of only two groups ( C, V, L; N, Z), governed by the 
same restriction in regard to their dialectical equivalents that was 
pointed out in the Greek section, and whose changes when fully 
evolved run as follows: 

Cipher Illustrations. 
Venus nuces, vanus agnus, 
aevum eques. 
aves ales, volo raro. 

caleo valeo, secius Iesous, 
camara Abraam, clivus pul- 
vis, scitum fustim. 
sacer lares, amice Maria, 
altum ausum, lux vox, 
malva Abram, lex pax, 
locus focus. 

vallis caulis, colo cogo, luo 
quo. 

noster zoster, annus sanus. 
zura urna. 

Applying those changes to altus, the list of anagrams is 
swelled by vetus, votus, votum ; busta; aptus, stupa, potus; fatus, 
fetus, fotus, fotum, fatum ; actus, catus, cetus, cemos, cotes, 



V changes into 



C, and hence into G,Q,K. 





L, " 


" R 


[ 


V, " 


" 0,B,P,F 


o - •• 






[ 


L, " 


" R 


L - -J 

1 

N " 

Z " 


V, " 

C, " 

Z " 

N " 


" 0,B,P,F 
" G,0,K 
" S 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 



73 



cutes, costa, scuta; Tagus, gesto, gusto, gutta; cadus, casus; 
comes, codex, metuo, mutua, mutue, mutuo. 

(d) Alloying changes. 

[The Latin E, like the Greek, is separated into ICS thus: 
E=IVV=INMVT or ICS.] 

Cipher Illustrations. 
ARCTOS Cristos, ARTVS 
virtus. 

C/€LO caleo, tergo. 
TRABS pastor, partus; VBl 
roto, quot; VBER virago; 
IBI quid; BEO dedo; 
I B EX odiose, octies, cicures, 
cautius. 

DEMVM Iesous ; RADIVS 
Cristos. 

EO vivo, AERA Maria, 
SOTER Cristos; DEVS 
Filius; OVES lotus; LATEO 
litatio. 

AFER retia, lirae, alligor. 
HALEX alites. 



A is separated into Tl, IT; VI, IV 

(ae when written together, as in M, is 
separated into AE and TE. ) 
B is separated into PO, PC, 100, ICO, ICC, 
DD, 1010. I0IC, ICIC 



E " 



10, IC 

IVV, IM, ICS; Fl- Lll; 
ITI 



F is separated into Tl, IT; LI; LL 

H " " " Tl, IT 

K " " " VV, IV 

M " " " VV, NI,VllorVT 

N " " " VI, IV 

" " " CC 

(oe, when written together, as in CE, is 
separated into OE and CE.) 
P is separated into 10, IC; Dl, 101, ICI 



S " 

T " 

X " 

Z " 



DV, 10V, ICV 

CC 
II 

VV 
VI, IV 



MVSA viduus, METVO 

Iesous, TIMEO Iesous. 

NOMEN Iesous. 

BEO pecco. 

CAN A caneo, sacer. 

PAX iota, citius; PONE Iesos; 
RIPA Troia, tauri 



SERIO Iesous, ARS 
avius. 

OPVS bucco. 
TACTVS civitas. 
AXIS avius. 
ZETOS devius. 



Iosep, 



As in Greek, those parts (or their equivalents, dialectical or 
allotropic), whether united or separated, can be used for their 
wholes, so that (reversing the procedure in the margin) D E V I VS 
reads zetus, AV I V S axis, CIVITAS tactus, etc. ; and, like the 
Greek also, the letters most frequently formed by union are A, 
H, M, S, T; next in frequency, E, P, R ; the remaining ones very 
rarely. 

Taking A L T V S once more, the following additional ana- 
grams are obtained from it by division and union of the parts 
(marked in parenthesis for guidance). 



74 



THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



Division: — (a) littus, stylus; (T ) livida, Servii ; (S) culter, 

cultor, callus, calvus, calycs or calyx, coacso or coaxo, culecs 

or culex, celocs or celox, codes, coctor. 
(Union : — ( T S = I ' IS or I * A ) allia ; ( TV=M or S ) musa, tres, meus ; 

(LVIS-M-A)Maia. 
Div. and Union : — ( S. T V ) lacus, calus, locus, colus, calcs or calx ; 

( A, S- TV ) Iituus, virtus. 

A comparison of the annexed Greek and Latin ciphers in 
taublated form gives a good idea of the close similarity be- 
tween the two, and will be useful for ready reference. The 
dialectical changes not connected with the cipher, and those 
divisional parts which readily suggest themselves to the eye 
(such as 100 and 1010, suggested by PO ; ITI, suggested by nr • 
Til, by ni etc.) are omitted. 







THE CIPHER IN 


TABULATED FORM. 


G R E 


E K 


LATIN 




Dialectic 


0. <u 
o bo 




Divisional 




Dialectic 


O bO 


Divisional 




changes 






changes 




changes 




changes 


A 


e, rj, o, w 






Tl, IT, Al, IA 


A 


e, o 




Tl, IT; VI, IV 


B 


TT, <p, V 






PO 


B 


p, f, V 




P0,PC; DD 


r 


K, X 


V,A 






C 


g. q- k 


V,L 




A 


e, t, t 






Al, IV 


D 


t, s 




10, IC 


E 


r] t a, cm, ei 




ii 


iki, ni, nr, m 


E 


a 




IVV, IM, ICS; Fl, Lll; ITI 


Z 


$ 


N 




Al, IV 


F 


b, p, v 




Tl, IT; LI,LL 


H 


e, a, cm, « 






Tl, IT 


G 


c, q, k 







I 


r.8,1 






01, 10 


H 
i 


e 




Tl, IT 


i 
K 


y, x 






VA, IV 


i 
K 


c g, q 




VV, IV 


A 


p 


v, r 






L 


r 


V, C 




M 




z 




AA, NI, All 


M 


s 




VV, NI, VII 


N 




z 




Al, IV 


N 




Z 


VI, IV 


H 


7S,K5,X*,S 






III 





a, e, v 




CC 





w,a,e,i7,u 








P 


b, f, v 




10, IC; Dl 


n 


0. <P, V 






n, ia 


Q 


c . g» k 






p 


X 






10, 101 


R 


1 




DV 


i 


i", *, e, t 


M 




AA, NI, All 


S 


m, t, d, z" 




CC 


T 


e, 5, $ 






II 


T 


d, s 




II 


V 


0,WJ/3 7T,0 


r, v 






V 


o; b, p, f 


C, L 




<t> 


0. "■, » 






01, 10 


X 


cs,gs,qs,ks.s 




VV 


X 


y, * 






VA 


Y 


'. v 






4J 


/9s,irs,0s,s 








Z 


s 


N 


VI, IV 


n 


0, O, €, 1), V 

















IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 75 

A few words remain to be said with regard to a cypher that 
played so important a part in ancient literature. 

It is not an arbitrary one : it has dialect and visual truth for 
the foundations. It is not a restricted one: its modus operandi 
can be applied to the letters and letter shapes of every written 
language. It is not complicated: transposition and metamorpho- 
sis are the only factors employed. It is no burden to the 
memory; transposition, allotropical and divisional changes ap- 
peal entirely to the eye; nothing is left for memory save the 
dialectical changes, and if those be familiar to the scholars of our 
day, how much more so must they have been to men whose natal 
tongue was Greek or Latin. It is easily acquired; and, once 
mastered, it is never forgotten and needs no transcription. In 
addition to its being legitimate and universal, simple in construc- 
tion, light on the memory and quickly comprehended, it is also 
effective: it furnished the means of cherishing and spreading 
Christian knowledge for thousands of years preceding the 
Nativity; it satisfied the eyes of true believers who hungered 
for the written Name; it slaked their thirst for information re- 
garding the advent, mission and death of the promised Redeemer ; 
and all this it did under cover of a sop — the wrath of an Achilles, 
misfortunes of an Oedipus, wanderings of an Aeneas, or some- 
thing else — that pacified the pagan and inebriated the sceptic. 
And (if age adds to a thing's merits) it is the oldest of all 
known ciphers — the Adam of its fellows, so to speak. It is 
older than Vergil, than Sophocles, than Homer ; and what it was 
in Homer's day, that same it was in Vergil's, for the cipher was 
golden currency that needed no re-minting. When, where and 
by whom was it first invented? Sophocles (no mean authority, 
and one who flourished four centuries and more before the com- 
ing of our Lord) says explicitly "No man knows," and sugges- 
tively adds that the cipher was never written, but was always 
communicated by word of mouth. This unwritten mode of 
transmission was, doubtless, for the purpose of insuring safety 
and secrecy ; and it is more than probable that the written cipher 
has now for the first time seen the light of publication, since 
even the Scholiasts (who knew it well and interpreted the classic 
text by its means) seem never to have transcribed it in tabulated 
form. 

To write the Name, however, was one thing; to point it out 
and where it was written was another ; and while this cryptic 
wizardry of letters was potent to frame and to conceal, its sorcery 



76 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

would have been futile were it not that the poetical magician drew 
with his wand a charmed circle within which he first placed the 
initiated and then began his incantations. How he did this — how 
he uttered the words of power that opened the gates of light to 
some readers, and left the profane ones grunting with satisfaction 
in their sty, will be shown in the next and following chapters. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. yy 



CHAPTER VII. 

KEEPING THE WORDS OF PROMISE TO THE EAR. 

Before citing examples from their works, it will be well to 
enumerate and classify their efforts at description. These may- 
be arranged under two heads, (i) Religious, and (2) Personal. 

In the first are embraced invocations to and exaltations of 
the Godhead; repeated mention of the sacred names; allusions 
to the Promise and the Coming; details concerning the birth 
and birthplace, life and works, the death, resurrection and ascen- 
sion of our Lord ; incidents relative to the lives of Mary and 
Joseph ; references to Abraham, Moses and other scriptural 
patriarchs ; and the principal facts, as told in Genesis, regarding 
our first parents, the Fall and the Deluge. 

In the second may be placed their attestations of true re- 
ligious faith; avowal of the concealed mode of writing; com- 
ments on the strict espionage with which they were hemmed 
around ; contemptuous flings at the inability of those in power to 
detect the hidden meaning of their words ; mocking remarks on 
the idolatrous deities and rulers of the people ; and appeals to the 
posterity that would eventually triumph in the faith to interpret 
their speech correctly, and give them credit for laboring in the 
vineyard. 

Here was food enough, surely, and readily suited for Chris- 
tian stomachs ; but, fortunately or unfortunately, the speech em- 
ployed in all those subdivisions had to be more or less flavored 
and seasoned to suit the Pagan maw. 

Outside of those tabooed topics what was left? Moral, social 
and didactic ones ; bits of pure science appertaining to the story 
of our earth from primal matter to a solid, habitable and inhabited 
globe; and whatever other subjects the ostensible nature of dis- 
course enabled the writer to employ. But all of those were to a 
great extent monopolized in the efforts of the poet to attract at- 
tention to the key-line, to fasten it on the word or words con- 
taining the Name, and to ring the changes on every letter of 
that name. What extraneous matter, then, remained? Very 
little, comparatively nothing. If the Iliad were sifted of 
what is written with a dual meaning and of what is 



78 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

employed to point out and impress the names, there would be 
left scarcely a dozen lines in each book, the second, possibly, ex- 
cluded. What is true of the Iliad is equally so of the Odyssey, 
the Works and Days, the Tragedies, Aeneid, Metamorphoses and 
other Greek and Latin poems. Ovid gives (I. Amor. El. xv.) a 
partial list of those who wrote for religious truth, and mentions 
Homer, Hesiod, Callimachus, Sophocles, Aratus, Menander, 
Ennius, Varro, Lucretius, Vergil and Tibullus ; Aeschylus, 
Plautus, Terence and Catullus are added by Horace; but the 
truth is, the difficulty does not lie so much in whom to include as 
it does in whom to exclude from "the polished band." All wrote 
in the same dual fashion and for a set purpose — to glorify God 
and the works of God, to keep the promise alive, to explain the 
original causes that necessitated the coming of a God-man, to 
hold up the Deluge as a warning against pride, strife, bloodshed 
and vice of every description, and to preach the observance of 
social and moral rights. The Bible is, confessedly, a religious 
work; faith, hope and charity permeate it, directly or indirectly, 
from cover to cover : it is even so with "the book" of each great 
classic mind ; and it is safe to say that the proportion of religious 
to secular matter in the Jewish record does not exceed that in 
the ancient Gentile ones. "Is there a comparison," it may be 
asked, "suggested between the sacred and classic writings? What, 
then, of the filth, lewdness and immorality in certain well-known 
pastorals, elegies, odes and other effusions of Greek and Latin 
writers?" What, it may be answered, of the various errors, 
heterodoxies and heresies that have disturbed the Christian 
church? Their founders and promulgators may be supposed 
sincere, even though erroneous, in their opinions, and their dog- 
mas were always based on an interpretation of the scriptures. 
But if their interpretations be wrong, and if the scriptures them- 
selves be not culpable for their schisms, is it not equally probable 
that our interpretations of the classics are false and that the 
poets themselves are not to blame? 

There is nothing in the lives of those men, even of those who 
flourished in the loose Augustan age, to warrant the assumption 
that they were of unbalanced mind and led a profligate existence. 
Here and there, too, throughout their works are found passages 
explicitly denying all culpable intent, and strongly denunciatory 
of vice, lewdness and immoral practices. What does Ovid say in 
those portions of his writings that have been distinguished for 
expurgation in proportion to their misinterpretation ? 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 79 

Nee mihi materia est numeris levioribus apta, 
Aut puer, aut longas compta puella comas. 

I. Amor. El. I. 19. 

The lines suggest not merely his dislike of the task, but his 
very incapability through want of knowingness. How can I 
write of love, he exclaims, I who have nought to do with lascivi- 
ous youngsters or seductive women ! 

"Still," it may be objected, "he did write of love, and — 
we know the filthy consequences !" Yes ; he wrote — in Latin ; 
and too well we know the filthy consequences — in English. He 
wrote of Love-^of a God of love, and of the love of God; he 
wrote of Corinna, his "Domina" and our "Lady" — the "mater 
amorum," the mother of all love, the mother of God ; but .the un- 
healthy imagination of an arch-translator mistook religious fervor 

for the flesh, Love for love, and the mother of love for . 

Well, we have eaten dirt — English, French, German, modern dirt 
of all kinds — eaten it, chewed it, swallowed the unsavory morsel, 
grown nauseated and, instead of heaping deserved maledictions 
on the translator's head, we censure the Latin poet ! 

There is no impurity in the classic writers — there could not 
be, seeing that their works were actuated by the same motives 
that prompted the Jewish ones, namely, the love and fear of God, 
and the preservation and propagation of religious truth. There 
is not a single impure line in the "Amores" of Ovid when rendered 
with the same intent and sentiment with which he wrote; and 
this passage from the "Ars Amoris" tells a story of its own : 

Nos Venerem tutam concessaque furta canemus ; 
Inque meo nullum carmine crimen erit. 

The Love that's sure, and lawful thefts we'll sing; 
And in my verse there will be nought of wrong. 

What that "sure Love" is, which he sings, has been already 
mentioned. The "lawful thefts" are the wiles and artifices em- 
ployed to conceal thought, and consisted of appropriations from 
the diverse meanings and established use of ordinary words, 
of deceitful pauses and punctuation, of a judicious collocation of 
words and clauses, of the esoteric and religious application of 
certain terms (like "Love," for instance), and of other means 
which will be patent to the view from a reading of the excerpts 



8o THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

that we give. Such were the furta; and they were assuredly 
"lawful" from a mere literary point of view, necessary from a 
religious one, and commendable in verse that sang no wrong. 

Let us reiterate what has already been commented on, and 
say 

(i) That if the poets dared to write of Christ and his com- 
ing, of his mission and surroundings, they would be 
compelled, through fear for themselves and their co- 
religionists, to write in language that would carry an- 
other and far different meaning to the profane reader. 

To this let us add : 

(2) That, if the theme of their discourse were Love, a lewd, 
lascivious interpretation of the words would be the most 
likely error into which the profane mind could fall. 

"But why take 'love,' then," it may be urged ; "why take a 
theme that would be liable to so gross a meaning? " There were 
many reasons for so doing. The ardor of youth and zeal ; the 
indifference to Pagan opinion ; the desire for an original topic ; 
the allusive and elusive application of the very word; the wide 
scope it afforded for language and ideas ; the almost absolute 
safety it promised by engrossing the profligate Pagan, snaring his 
senses, dulling his judgment, and dulling it in proportion to the 
prominence and preponderance of what sounded unchaste and 
lewd — all those urged on the poet to select the theme, to fight 
the good fight, to believe that truth would still be truth though 
contaminated by so foul a garment, and to even immolate him- 
self by sacrificing human respect and going down to posterity as 
"a most immoral and licentious writer." It was a nice point to 
decide — it is so still — taking into account the times, circumstances 
and surroundings ; but the grave and decent opinion of our day 
will coincide with the majority of those true believers and fellow 
poets who flourished throughout the Augustan period, in assert- 
ing that no reasons whatsoever or motives for well-doing, no blaz- 
oning of the truth or of the Name, and no amount of self-abase- 
ment should have weight as against disguising what was holy in 
an atmosphere of unholy words. Such was the opinion of Ovid 
himself, one of those who was thus carried away by over zeal, by 
glamour and by deceptive fame. Even when composing the 
"Amores," grave doubts as to the wisdom of his selected medium 
must have crossed his mind when he wrote thus (III. Amor. El. 
xii) : 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 81 

An prosint dubium; nocuerunt carmina certe; 
Invidiae nostris ilia fuere bonis. 

'Tis doubtful if our words have goodness wrought; 

'Tis certain that they have effected ill : 

A cause of deep displeasure they have been 

To those of sterling worth within our ranks. 

In later years, when writing the "Tristia," he professes the 
deepest regret at having selected "love" for a theme (I. I. 49) : 

Donee eram sospes, tituli tangebar amore, 
Quaerendique mihi nominis ardor erat. 
Carmina nunc si non studiumque, quod obfuit, odi. 
Sit satis : ingenio sic fuga parta meo. 

While still I basked in puffed prosperity, 
Hard struck was I with passion of my theme, 
And zeal in searching for the Name was mine. 
Those poems now I hate; and if not those, 
The studied care that proved so mischievous. 
Enough ; thus by my skill was exile bred. 

Again, line 65 : 

Siquis erit, qui te, quia sis meus, esse legendum 
Non putet, e gremio rejiciatque suo, 
"Inspice," die, "titulum : non sum praeceptor amoris : 
Quas meruit poenas jam dedit illud opus." 

To him who thinks you should not be perused, 
Who'd cast thee from his breast because thou'rt mine, 
Say "Note the title : love I do not teach ; 
That work has long since brought deserved remorse." 

It is not so much the "Amores" themselves that he detests : 
it is rather the skill and studied care with which he had clothed 
what was true and pure in raiment so deceitful and immoral to 
the Pagan ear. Better, far better had he never chosen "love" 
as theme; or that, having chosen it, he had been less successful 
in his make-believe. His skill was his ruin. It brought banish- 
ment from those who could not read beneath the lines, censure 
and estrangement from those who could, and to himself "de- 
served remorse" for the mischief resulting from associating crys- 
tal waters with the defiled. And all this because, as he tells us, 



82 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

when more vigorous in years and flourishing in Rome, he was 
touched to the core with love of his theme, with love of "Love," 
and was ardent in searching for and commenting on the letters 
of "the Name." 

The importance of the foregoing subject is sufficient apology 
for so lengthened a digression ; but we shall leave it now in order 
to point out briefly the manner and methods employed in attract- 
ing attention to the hidden name. 

The general plan of concealment has been already mentioned 
in the preceding chapter. One or other of the names concealed 
in the key-line — which is oftentimes, though not always, the pref- 
atory one — is expounded letter by letter and made clearly mani- 
fest to the reader ; that exhausted, another key-line, pregnant 
with the Name, is inserted, and the same plan is pursued in order 
to develop it ; and so on. In this way there is a mutual reaction 
between the written matter and the pictured name, since the latter 
generates the former, and the former throws light upon the latter; 
or, to put the idea more forcibly, the lettered picture is to the 
classic text what the diagram is to geometrical discourse. The 
difficulty of understanding a problem or theorem without its ac- 
companying figure is a something that cannot be denied ; the same 
difficulty exists in understanding Greek or Latin poetry without 
its figure — the lettered picture of the Name. In each case the 
text bears directly on that which is crystallized in the figure ; the 
figure illustrates the text and facilitates its meaning; the two, 
united, are absolutely essential for a thorough understanding of 
the truth. In connection with this it may be remarked that a 
single verse has often proved a theme for many successive ones. 
To cite a few instances, the odes of Horace, elegies of Ovid, 
eclogues of Vergil — each of those, short or long as it may be, is 
based on a single line (the first one, as a rule), or on one or more 
words in that line, which constitutes the poet's picture for the 
time being; and the same assertion holds good for the first book 
of the Iliad whose six hundred and eleven verses are devoted to 
the word-painting of "Mfjvtv aetoe, 6sa, IlYpoq'iaBeto 'KyCkfioq". 

Generally speaking, the first efforts of the poet are directed 
to fastening attention on the key-line; and this is accomplished 
by reiterating one of its words, or employing a synonym for it ; 
by more or less direct reference ; by such suggestive terms as 
"hinc," "jam," "aspice," etc. ; and by various other ways too 
numerous to mention and too nice to particularize. When once 
established, the line is divided into a series of parts or pictures, 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 83 

one or more of which spells the Name in some of its forms, and 
also spells an anagrammatical word or phrase that limits and dis- 
tinguishes this form. To give an example: the Iesus in VIDES 
can be bounded and denned by dives, miles, duces, tecum, ilices, 
vites, silice, silicis, telum, rides, vicisti; or by tu vides Deum, te 
videt Deus, sic res est, hie dixit (or dicsit) etc. To select and adapt 
those anagrams — or their synonyms, for locuples would denote 
dives, tu aspicis Jovem would denote tu vides Deum, and so on — 
was the poet's task; and his efforts were judged by the neatness 
with which- he applied them, the sparing use of synonyms, and by 
the daring genius which kept the thinnest veil commensurate with 
safety between the superstructure and substructure of discourse. 

And now, having striven as best we could to point out and 
explain some (for there are many others) of the various methods 
employed, let us give a few lengthened excerpts from the poets 
themselves that will exemplify, as mere speech cannot, the re- 
ligious scope of their works, and the successful manner in which 
they held the words of promise to the ear and brought the letters 
as a unit before the intelligential eye. Before doing so, however, 
let us ask the question, "In what manner of speech should the 
classics be rendered ?" 

In that of our schools? Certainly not; for such was the 
false, petty, lewd and atheistical manner in which the vulgar and 
profane of Greece and Rome construed them ; but the poets 
wrote for, and were otherwise construed by the Christian circle. 
In the manner, then, that this circle understood ? Again, no ; for 
while this is the true rendering, the poets wrote with the full 
intention of being construed far differently by the Pagan crowd. 
What is left for answer? This, and this only — that no Eng- 
lish translation will be strictly in harmony with the text, spirit 
and intent, unless it is capable of two constructions, and couched, 
when describing the lettered pictures, in the same alliterative, 
dominant and anagrammatical speech that is employed by the 
classic writer. It is true that those two desiderata, the second 
particularly, cannot be accomplished in all cases owing to the 
genius of each language; but, as a rule, they are well within the 
range of the possible, and an effort in both directions has been 
attempted in the renderings here and elsewhere offered. When- 
ever the dual construction is, or seems to be impossible, and when 
at a loss for words that would harmonize both meanings, we have 
sympathized with "the better part" of the poet and leant to the 
Christian side as against the Pagan one. 



84 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

In the following extract, and those succeeding it, the notes 
and cipher reading are put on the page opposite the text and its 
rendering. This mode of arrangement will insure quick refer- 
ence, keep the reader in close touch with the esoteric interpre- 
tation, and enable him to follow the anagrammatical description 
of each picture. The cipher reading shows how the letters of 
successive pictures are divided so as to form the anagrams ; and, 
for additional help, dots are generally employed to mark how 
certain letters are united to make a whole: -Tl- for A, -TV- or 
-IAI- or IVI for M or I, -II- or -IM- for E or A, and so on. 

The more unusual unions (those for B and P) are fre- 
quently noted; and, while all dialectical and allotropical changes 
are of necessity left for the reader's self to make out, the letter- 
ing and divisional parts employed will assist and guide him right 
in the selection. Each lengthened extract is also furnished with 
the general plan or scheme pursued by the poet in his work of 
description. 

One other point requires mention — the frequent use of Zeus 
( X, a to ) and Apollo for "the Life" and "the Light," esoteric 
terms universally used by the poets to denote Him who declared 
"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, walketh not 
in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Other esoteric terms 
generally employed by Greek and Latin writers are "the maiden" 
for Mary, "the people" for Christians, "the city" for Jerusalem, 
"the fatherland" for Judea, etc. 

ILIAD I. 1-53. 
The opening verse of the Iliad constitutes (as already re- 
marked) a picture from which the subject matter in the entire 
first book is derived. All the incidents therein, many and vari- 
ous as they are, must be studied from different portions of this 
verse; and the particular portion connected with the extract 
now presented is MEN IN AEIAE- 
Scheme. — This picture is divided into three smaller ones, each of 

which points its own story. 
MEN IN: From this the poet first writes the proem (how 

"Achilles' wrath" with its consequences, or the 
whole Iliad, is interwoven all through with "the 
will" of Him who is the Life), and then tells how 
"the Christian patriarch" comes to the Greeks to 
free "the Christian maiden," and is roughly dis- 
missed by Agamemnon. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 85 

A E I A E : The Christian, retiring to "the coast of the loud- 

roaring sea," and invoking Him who made the 
rainbow a covenant between himself and earth, 
tells how he has glorified the Name thrice, and 
calls for similar onomastic retribution on "the 
Danaoi." 

M E N J N A: "The Light of the World" appears and, retiring to 
E I A E, sends back two literal weapons that glorify 
the Name still further and fulfil the Christian's 
prayer. 

The most noticeable features in the pointing are A for 0, and TI (or 
their equivalents) for H ; the manifold divisions of E, M and X ; the use 
of Tl, Al, Ml, II for A; the reunion of IVI, AA (or their equivalents) for 
M, I, (T or A), and of IVIV (or their equivalents) for B. 



86 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Mrjviv astoe, 6ed, IlTQX7]tdoe(o 'AxiXy)o<; * 

oi3Xo{iiv»]v, y) t JLU P t " AxouoTq dXye' efrq*e, 

xoXXag o' tcpOc^JLouq ^ux^S "Atot xpota(j;aev 

iQpwwv, auxou<; os eXcopca tsu^s xuvsaciv 
5 ofwvota-t xe. xdat Atoq 8' exeXetexo ^ouXtq 2 

t£ ou ot) xaxpd>xa ocaan^TQV eptaavxs 

ATpetoiQ? ts, ava£ dvBpwv, xal 0I0? 'Ay/XXsii*;. 

Tiq x' dp a?(os 6sd)V spioi ^uvsyjxs [JidxecrOac; 3 

ArjToug xcu Acoq utoq- 6 yap @aatXijt yoXcoOslq 4 

10 vouaov dvd axpaxbv wpas xaxiqv, dXexovxo Be Xaoc, 

ouvexa xbv XpuaTjv tqtIjjlyjct' dpY)xf]pa 

'AxpeiSt)?" 6 yap Y]X6e 6od<; exl v^aq 'Ayatwv, 5 

Xua6[X£v6<; xe Ouyaxpa, cpepwv x' dxspecat' dxoiva, 

axe^ax' e^wvev x £ ?^ v exir$6Xou 'AxoXXwvot; 
15 xpuaea) dvd axiqxxpto, xca eXc'caexo xdvxa<; 'Ayatou*;, 

'Axpei'Sa Se (jidXiaxa oug), xoc^Tope Xawv 

'AxpeTBca xsxac aXXot liixv^iSeg 'Ayatot, 6 

ujxTv ^Jtiv Geoi 8oIsv 'OXu^xta Bw^ax' eyovxeq 7 

exxepaac IIpid[j.oto xoXcv, eu 0" 0'1'xao' txeaOat. 

The wrath of Peleus-born Achilles sing, 

O muse — the direful wrath that myriad woes 

Brought on Achaeans, into Hades hurled 

Many determined souls of men renowned, 

And left themselves a prey for hounds and birds. 

But through the whole — from where at first the great 

Achilles, ana Atreides, king of men, 

Stood vying — there was wrought the will of Life. 

Who brought those two of gods to vie in strife? 
The Son of Leto and of Life : for through 
The ranks He made a dismal plague progress 
(And perish did the people), with the king 
Incensed because Atreides honored not 
Chryses, the preacher, who, to free the maid, 
Came to the swift ships of Achaean men, 
Came with redemption that no limit knows, 
Holding the fillets of far-reaching Light 
Upon a golden staff, and thus besought 
All the Achaeans, but in marked degree 
The people's leaders two, from Atreus sprung : 

"Ye sons of Atreus, and all of you 
Well-booted warriors with Achaean blood, 
Oh ! may the gods with mansions raised on high 
Enable you to capture Priam's town, 
And go in safety to your proper home; 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 87 
NOTES. Cipher Reading. 



MENIN. 



1. The fiova-a is asked to sing 

the ixtjvls Hrj\el8ov 'Ax'XtJos 6\op.4vrj 

that sent p.vpia dXyea on ' Axaiol, 
hurled iroXies l<p8ip.oi i/'uxaf 

into 'Ai'Sijs, 
and left rjpwes avrol as an eXcopia 

for icuves and aiyvirwl. 

2. fiovX)] QeTov is worked through the whole — 
not merely through EN IN which also 
points (3ov\r) QeTov, but through all the 
MENIN — from the very oD ( M or AA ) of 
the picture, where 'Arpelwv Aval; avdp&v 

and 8etos 'Ax'XXei/s 
stand vying with each other. 

3. Who sets those two a-striving? 
'AirbWuv, the ArjrySrjs and Aidyovos — 

"the Light" born of AifiTii and the QeTov, 

of MapLa and the Godhead. 

[Atj'i'tw for AtjtcI), like X^i'ros for X?)tos 

"belonging to the people" — and hence 

applied to Mary, who was of and for the 

people.] 

4 . /BcKTikrj'i xoXwflets 

vovffov orparbv dvwpcre ko.k-?)v. 

6\4kovto Sijfioi, ovveica. 

Xpwrjv yfiiit]^ dprjrpa ' Arpeiwv. 
l&pTjTpa for dprjTrjpa, like dvyarpa for 
Bvyardpa.] 

5. Xpi5(TT?s, apr]T-f)p, or Xpi<rri6s ("the Christian, 
or one who prays" ) comes to the 

wKeiai vrjes 'Axatw'' to free the 

Ovydryp or Xpurrid; 
he carries fivpla diroiva; 
his X e 'P eJ hold the xP^vcop ffKrjirrpop, 
and (on it) the <Trip.p.d eKiqfibXov ' AiroWwvos^ 

and he addresses irdvres 'A%ato/, 

and each' Arpeluv (MENIN, VIENIN). 
[<7T4np.d, contracted form of <TTip.pn.Ta\ 
Xpi(m6s, the shorter form of Xpi<TTi.a.v6s~] 

6. Every 'Ax<u6s (MENIN) has a double 

KP V fxl s (MEN I EN IN) 

7. He prays that their own "gods", princes 
or r^pwes, who have 'OXtfyiwria 8d>p,ar\ may 
enable them to capture the II/)i<£,uou 7tt6Xis, 
and go back to 'EXXds; and that 



MnrAinv 

MENIN IVIIIVZAIIIV 

IVIIK-ZI-VIN MIIVIVIAIIN 

MI-nAI-IAI MI-TI-AII1V, MEAMAi 

TVEAIIIV MTII-IVI-AI MniAIIIV 

MI-TIAIIIV, 

MEAIIIV MI-n-IVI-AI, MI-ITAIIIV 

AAEN-IAI AAEIVIAI 



AArill-VIIV (VIIV=B) MI-nAI-IAI 

nrAinv eiviiv 



IVII-VA-ZI-VIN NIENIIV TVniNIN 
MEIV-IAI IVIIIV-ZI-VIIV 



AArniVIN, IVII-VA-TV-AIIIV, 

TVirrNIIV; 

MI-TI-IVI-AI (Tl or A for O), MI-ITN-IAI 

MI-TI-IVI-AI 



NII-TI-AIIIV MIVAZAIIIV 

AAniNIN NIIVAZAIIIV NIITIAIIIV 

MI-ITAIIN 

AAIVAZAIIN ME-IVI-AI, AA-IT-INIIV 

AAENIIV IVIIIVZAIIIV IVIIIVZAIIIV, note 2 



AAENIIV, IVIIIVZAIIIV, TVITININ 

MEIVIAI MENIN NIEAIIIV 

IVII-VA-ZI-VIIV MITIAIIIV; 

note 1, NIEAIIIV 

NIEAIIIV TVrriAIIN TVIVAZAIIN 

NIII-VV-TAIIIV AAIVAZAIIIV 

IVIIVAAANIIV; 

NIIIVZAIIIV, note 1 

note 2, VIIIAIVIIVIN 



NIEAIIIV 

NIIIAZNI, l-VA-NINIIV 



note 1, MrriAIIIV MniAIIIV 

MrriAinv MnrAi-iAi 

MEAIIIV 



88 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

20 xaioa h' i\io\ Xuaaf te i?(Xy)v, ia t' axotva Mxeafttxi, 

d^6^.evot Atb<; utbv sxy]@6Xov 'AxoXXcova. 

"Ev6' aXXoi \t.iv xdvieq ixeu<pY^Y]aav 'A/atof, 

aioetaOai 0' tepfja, xal ayXaa oex9«' axotva. 

<iXX' oux 'ATpelSj) 'AYct^vovt tjvBave 8u^a>, 
25 dXXa xaxw? a<p (et, xpatepbv 0' ext ^u0ov steXXev 
M^ as, Y^pov, xot'Xflcuv iyw xapa vvjual xi^eta, 

^ viiv ot)6uvovt' ri uatepov auxtq iovtoc, 

^ vii -rot ou xpa^^T) cxijxTpov xal a-re^a Oeolo. 

ttjv 0' eyw ou Xuaw, xplv ^iv xat yYjpaq exetatv 
30 ^exeptp evi oi'xw, ev "Apysc, ty]X60i xaxpYjq, 

taibv Ixotxo[xevY)v, xal e^bv Xe/oq dvxtowaav. 

dXX' V6 1, [i.tq jx' ep£6c£,e, aawxepoi; tog xe veiqau. 

"Qq e^at'* eooetcev 0' 6 ylpwv, xac exstOexo y.6Q(p, 

(if) 0' dxewv xapd fllva xoXu<pXoia(Soio 0aXdaaT]<;. 
35 xoXXd 8' exetx' dxdveu0e xtu>v iqpaO' 6 y£pa'b<; 

'AxoXXwvt #vsaic, xbv -quKo^oq TexeA^TW* 

And may those gods who reverence Life's Son, 
The Light that shineth from afar, likewise 
Enable you redemption to receive, 
And free the maid so lovable to me." 

Achaeans, to a man, approving said 
That due respect be paid unto the priest, 
And that the glorious ransoms be received. 
But not by Agamemnon, Atreus' son, 
Was this approved : with ceremony scant 
He bade him go, and rough speech also used : 

"Let me not find thee near the hollow ships 
Delaying now, or coming back again, 
Lest it may be God's fillets and the staff 
Avail thee not, as now they do, old man. 
Free her? Not I — old age itself doth first 
Come on her in my home at Argos ( far 
From her own land), while working at the loom, 
Or sedulous around my couch. Begone ! 
Stir not my ire ; so safer thou'lt depart." 

He spoke. The senior, filled with dread, obeyed 
The word, and, heaving sighs, went by the coast 
Of the loud-roaring sea. Then far away 
The patriarch bent his steps and prayed aloud 
To Light, the Prince whom fair-haired Leto bore : 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 89 



NOTES. 
MEN IN 

the xP l<rTl ° l (who worship Him who is 
"the Light of the world and the Son of 
God") may enable them to free the xP lffTl <* 

or iraidvbs (piXrjT-fj. 

8. Axa'O' eirpcurl : 'Arpdwv diro<pr]<Tl. 

9. He bids him leave the KoiXatai vijes 
(MENIN), and orders Xpvar]s or xP ia " ri ° s 
not to come back to the koiAcu vijes in 
ENIN-where the "(T/oJirrpoi'" and "<7T«f/i/«i" 
are not available in the pointing. 

10. He will not free the xp^nd (MENIN) — 
will not free her even in "Ap7os (MEN) 
where xP""""*, with yfjpas upon her, weaves 
the larbs und makes up the X^x°s; and 
where she is far away from irdrpa (AEIAE). 

AEIAE 

11. Xpforjs or xpi-CTi-fc (AEIA), filled with 5&s, 
goes (and goes dx^v) along the dar-fi 

of the iro\v<p\our(3os 6d\a<T<ra (AEIAE). 
[That dx^w — not aKiuv— is the true read- 
ing is evinced by the "ddicpva" in v. 42] 

12. Xpt5<r?;j or xp«""i6s advances to EIAE: here 
he halts and prays to Him whom he sees 
in MENINA — the &va% 'AirbXhwv whom 
the ijvKOfios Atj'ltwv bore, the Sovereign 
Light whom Mapid/j. begot. 

[AijI'tcSj', the old form of A^iVti, like IIvOup 
for ILvdd.] 



Cipher Reading. 



MIITAIIAI 

note 5 

NIITIAIIIV MI-TIAIIIV 

note 1, NIEAIIIV: note 
IVII-TI-AIIIV, note 5 
IIAZAIIIV, IVATVNIN 
rilAIIIV IIV-ZI-VIN 



2, MI-VA-II-VIN 



note 5 

Tvrmv 

IVIIIVT-VA-I, IVII-VA-ZI-V 

NiniN Tvnnv 

A-lll-ni-AE 



AIIIAZIIA, TIIVAZIIA, AIEIA 
AMKNI-IA (IA=A), AEIIA 
AIVAAAIAIVAAA AIIAZI-AI-VA-I 



rniAiTT ivAziAni 

MENIA-IAI (MI=A) AAniAIINA (A for O) 

MniAIIAIIA MI-ir-IVI-NA 

MEAI-IAI-A 



9 o THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

KXjOc ^eu, 'Apyupoxo;;', oq Xpuarjv d^tpi^s^Yjxaq 13 

Ki'XXav ts £,a0sT)v, TeveSoio t£ Icpi dvdaasK;. 

SjJLtV0£U, SlfxOXS XOt yjX$[e.Yz' SXl VTjOV £p£^a, 14 

40 r, Et Btq xoxs Tot xaxd xcova ^pt' exrja 

TGcupwv •qo' caywv, xoos jxot xp^Yjvov IIXowp" 
xtaEiav Aavaol e^,a odxpua aolat ^IXsaatv. 

"Qq e'cpax' e'Jx6^svo<;' xou 8' I'xXus <J>oi(3o<; 'AxoXXuv. 15 

^f) Be xax' OuXuy.xoio xapiQvwv, ^wd^evoc; xijp, 16 

45 tos' (ii^otatv I'xwv d|x<pr]pe<psa xs 9apsxpr]v, 
ExXayi;av B' ap' 6'iaxol lie' w^jlcov xwo^lvoto 
auxoO xtvr]0evxo<;* 6 0' fj'ie vuxxt eotxeoq. 

E^Sx' SXEtx' dxdvSuOs VSCOV, ^£xd 0' ibv ET]XSV 17 

Bsivtj oe xXayyq ylvsx' dpyupsoco @ioio. 

50 ou pfjctq t*.ev xpwxov exw^exo xac xuvaq dpyou?' 
auxdp sxsix' auxocat @sXo<; e^exsuxe? Ecptslq, 
(SdX' - oust os xupal vexucov xaaovxo OafJistai. 18 

svvrj^ap jJLEvdvd axpaxbv co^exo xtjXa 0eolo. 19 



"Lord of the flashing bow ! who hast coursed round 
Chrysa and holy Killa, and whose sway 
O'er Tenedos is great, give ear to me. 
If e'er for Thee, O God who gave that sign, 
I've covered o'er with reeds a sightly church, 
And if for Thee I've burned the fatted thighs 
Of oxen and of goats, then grant me this, 
This one especial wish — through shafts of thine 
Let the Danaoi rue those tears of ours." 

So prayed the priest ; effulgent Light gave ear. 
From ether's highest pinnacles He came, 
Grieved in his heart, with bow and quiver cased 
On shoulders ; and, while grieved in heart He moved, 
The arrows on those shoulders rattled loud, 
And like to night He went. Then steering far, 
Far off, He stayed his course, sent back a shaft — 
And shrill the noise was of the silver bow. 
Mules he shot first, and then the lazy hounds : 
Rut pointing after this a venomed shaft, 
He loosed it on themselves — and heaps of slain 
Cremated were with intermission none. 
For nine days went God's weapons through the troops. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 91 



NOTES. 
MENINA 

13. 'Apyvp6ro^: "I will set my bow in the 
clouds, and it shall be the sign of a cove- 
nant between me, and between the earth. " 
Gen. IX. 13. 

X/xivdeiJS ((rr)nalv(ti 0e6$). 

The 'Apyvp&ro^ spreads over Xprjo-q (ME) 

andtfealUXXa (NINA), and all of Ttvedos 

(MENINA). 

14. The new picture is now divided into three 
portions for the Name: 

MEN : where a x a P'^ s V7 1 0S is covered 

for 'Irj<rovs XpiaTos; 

MEN I : where iriova p.i)pla aly&v are offered 
for 'Irjo-ovs Xpcards; 

MEN IN : where irnbdij p.t\pla ratipwv are 

offered for 'Itjctovs Xpio-r6s; 
and his prayer is that Aavaol (MENINA) 
may be, similarly effaced by the weapons 
of the Name. 

15. The picture reads favorably : 

Toi/-5'-e/cXi/e Qoifios 'AttoXKuv 

16. He comes, x«fytew>s neapbOi, 

from the 'OXifyt7roto Kap-qva, 

with Toi-dpiov and artyvi\ <papirpa iofioariv: 



eKhay^av 6'C<tt6. : 



'~EKlvq<JS VVKTd)87]S. 



17. Moving ("^idc") to EIAE (which also 
points 'I^ffoOs Xpurr6s), two arrows are 
sent back to continue the Name work 
begun in note 14. 

(a) One is an oUtt6s (EN IN A) 

(Setvrj KXayyr) yiver'' 

apyvpioio /Stoio) 
that destroys 

EN IN : first, the ovpijes 

for 'Itjitous Xpi<Tr6s; 

ENINA : and then the Kvves depyoL 

for 'IijcroCs XpLffr6s; 

(b) the other is 

MENINA: a wevicte /3Aos, that fulfils the 

prayer of Chryses by effacing Aavaol 

for 'Irjo-ovs XpiffTbs. 

18. Trvpal{MEH, ENIN, NINA) 

p€kijwv Kalovro 6ap.€iai. (MENINA) 

19. The weapons of the Name go persistently 
through MENINA, and this points o-rpards 
and ivvrjp.ap. 



Cipher Reading. 



AAIVAZIVIIVAI IVIIVAZ 
AIIIVA AMIVAI, NIIITAIINA 



IV1II-VV-TI-V TVEN 
TVI-VA-II-V AAI-VA-TVN 

AAENI MI-VA-ZI-VI AAENI 
Ml-VAZNI AAI-VA-ZAII 

MI-niV-IAI MI-ITAIIIV NlinAIIIV 
AAENIN AAITIIV-IAI 
Ml-ir-IVl-NA 



TVIIA— ZI-V1IVAI MniAIIIVA, note 12 

AAIKZNINAI MEAI11VAI 

AAnr-IVI-AIA MI-ITAIINA 

AAIKZIVINA, MENIIVA TVEAIIIVA, 

MH-IAI-INA 

IVIMVIVIAIINA MI-nA-l-IAI-A 

IVII-TI-NINA AATTNIIVA 

i-Ti-iiAni rri-iAi-nvz 



IIT-IVI-NIA 

11-rA-IINA lirAIIIVAl ENIIVA 

IVAAAA1IIVA miV-IAIA (iniV=B) 

l-VA-IVI-AIIIV 
I-VA-ZAI1IV IVAZAIIN 

niNINAl EAIIIVAI 

nrNiNA rriNiNAi 

MI-nAIINAI AAE-IVIA-IAI (IVIA=B) 

note 14 

MI-nNIA-IAI AAl-nA-IIA-IAI 

AAEAI, niAIIIV, AIIIVAI 

MnrNINA MTIIAIINA MI-VA-ZI-VIAIA 



MIITAIINA 
Nll-VA-ZI-VINA 



92 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

OVID I., AMOR. IV. 

Who is the "vir" of Ovid? Who the "domina"? Those 
were burning questions in the days of Augustus Caesar; and 
questions they have been for men of later ages whose widened 
knowledge of "the Bridegroom" and "our Lady" should have 
suggested a train of thought leading to the right conclusion. 

The first three of the Amores are more or less introductory 
of Ovid's true design and ambitious intent, with all the hopes 
and fears attached thereto. This, the fourth, begins the real 
work, brings upon the scene the "Vir" who was coming to feast 
with mankind, and is devoted to marking the Name of the 
heavenly Spouse. 

Scheme: His picture is the initial verse, 

Vir tuus est epulas nobis aditurus easdem. 

Part of this ("Vir tuus est") is already finished; the rest 
is mere canvas, and two curtains hide the whole. Pulling them 
apart, he exposes "epulas nobis" to view, and begins the delightful 
task — the "dulce opus" (to use his own words). 

(i) His first efforts are concentrated on making "the Bride- 
groom" stand forth from nobis, and "the Christian" 
from epulas (the christian woman who is supposed to 
read his poems — since epistles of an amatory nature 
could not well be addressed to a christian man), and on 
the mental resolution that he will ultimately enlarge "the 
Bridegroom" so as to embrace epulas. 

This done, the left-hand curtain is flung back and 
we see "Christ, O christian, is thy Spouse." 

(2) He then draws back the right hand curtain, enlarges 
"the Bridegroom" so as to take in epulas nobis aditurus, 
places "the christian" (full size) in the background of 
easdem, lays down his brush, and presents for view, 
"Thy Spouse is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, O chris- 
tian." 

There are quite a number of dialectical and allotropical 
changes, such as A for 0; for V, A (or E); B for P, F, V; R for L 
(or V); CS for X. The divisional forms are also numerous, em- 
bracing those of A,E,B,P,D,R,T,M,S,K, and (whether separate or 
tacked on to B,P,D,R). 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 93 

Among the reunions will be noticed TV, VV (or their equivalents) 
forM (S,T or D); TI,DI,SI for A Cor E); VV (or CC) forX; ICV and 
10V for R ; and IV for N. 

Two other points in connection with this and other extracts 
demand attention. The first is the using of his own (or some 
other person's) name in order to concentrate attention on a 
picture. This practice dates from the time of Homer and was 
used by all the poets — not too often, though, nor too con- 
spicuously, lest suspicion should be excited, as we learn from 
those lines of Ovid (1 Ars Amor. 585) : — : 

Tuta f requensque via est per amicum fallere nometi : 
Tuta frequensque licet sit via crimen habet. 

Inde procurator nimium quoque multa procurat, 
Et sibi mandatis plura videnda putat. 

It is a safe and beaten way to use 

Deception through a friendly name : though safe 

And beaten be that way, it has its fault. 

Thence also gleans the spy too much, and thinks 

That more than what is told him can be seen. 

The second point is his covert allusion to Augustus Caesar. 
Such allusions are met with in Vergil, Horace and other writers of 
the period, and are too numerous and too pointed to leave any 
doubt regarding the true estimate placed upon the Roman Em- 
peror by the literati of his day. They have dubbed him "the 
wolf," "the snake," "the hundred headed Cerberus," etc. Ovid, 
in this poem, dubs him, "the ruling darkness," and prophesies his 
punishment ("the darkness of Hades") in the world to come. 
It may be said here that, when fulsome flattery appears upon the 
surface of classic poetry in connection with Augustus, the words 
can always be construed differently — and not to Caesar's credit. 



94 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Vir tuus est epulas nobis aditurus easdem. 

Ultima coena tuo sit precor ilia viro : I 

Ergo ego dilectam tantum conviva puellam 

Aspiclam; tangi quern juvet alter erit; 
5 Alteriusque sinus apte subjecta fovebis; 

Injiciat collo, cum volet, ille manum. 
Desine mirari, posito quod Candida vino 2 

Atra cis ambiguos traxit in arma viros. 
Nee mihi silva domus, nee equo mea membra cohaerent : 3 
10 Vix a te videor posse tenere manus. 

Quae tibi sint f acienda tamen cognosce ; nee Euris 

Da mea nee tepidis verba ferenda Notis. 
Ante veni quam vir : nee quid, si veneris ante, 4 

Possit agi video : sed tamen ante veni. 
15 Cum premit ille torum, vultu comes ipsa modesto 5 

Ibis ut accumbas : clam mihi tange pedem ; 
Me specta, nutusque meos vultumque loquacem. 

Excipe furtivas, et refer ipsa, notas; 
Verba superciliis sine voce loquentia dicam ; 

To selfsame feasts with us thy Bridegroom comes. 

Let that repast the last be for thy Spouse : 

Then as a guest I'll see the chosen maid; 

Another there will be whom 'twill delight 

To be close touched ; and thou, when aptly couched, 

Below him, wilt that other's bosom warm ; 

And, when He'll list, his hand will clasp thy throat. 

From wond'ring cease that she, who looks so fair 
With drink close by, has drawn from every side 
Men using double speech for secret war. 
And as for me — the forest's not my home, 
Nor are my limbs incorporate with horse ; 
You see me able just to keep my hands. 
Observe, howe'er, the things that thou must do ; 
And let my words be wasted not upon 
The eastern winds or tepid southern blasts. 

Come thou before the Spouse — nor know I what 
If come thou should'st before Him, might betide! 
But, still, come first. When he reclines his weight 
Upon the couch, with sober aspect then 
Thou'lt go as partner to recline with him : 
Touch with furtive hand this foot for me ; 
Observe myself, my features, talking look. 
Take private notes, and imitate thyself; 
With eyebrows telling words I'll mutely speak; 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 95 



NOTES. 

NOBIS 

If ultima coena be assigned to the 
Bridegroom, Cristos will then be 
touched by Ovidius, conviva; and 
Cristua, the dilecta puella 
(couched under the Bridegroom so 

as to fondle His sinus) 
will have her collum clasped by 
His manus. 

Close by "the christian" is vinum; and 
all about ("cis") her are Cristui, "the 
christian men" who employ ambigu- 
ous speech to carry on secretly the war 
for religious truth. 

As to his own position in the picture, 
there is an Ovidius in NOB and another in 
NOB I; but his home is not in the 
silva of the first, nor do his numbers 
cling to the equus of the second : he is 
no rustic boor or beastly centaur, but 
one of the NOBIS crowd (the am- 
biguous speaking christians), and just 
able to keep manus; and he warns the 
reader to waste no words of his oh 
Euri ( NOB ) or on tepidi Noti 
(NOBI). 

EPVLAS 

Having established "the Bridegroom" 
in NOBIS, he now tells the Cristua 
( EPVLAS ) to come before Him; and 

the wording of the invitation brings to 

the poet's mind what the Psalmist says 
(CXXIX. 3) : "If thou, O Lord, wilt 

mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand 

it?" 

NOBIS 

Again he turns to NOBIS, with the 
intention this time of resolving it into 
three smaller parts, each capable of 
pointing the Name. 

NOB: Cristua, with umilis vultus, will 
be a comes, when torus is 
pressed by Cristos. 
Touch this pes for Ovidius : 
look at this NOB with its 
dominant N and — look at 

Naso, his nutus, and 

vultus loquax 

Take furtivae notae; imitate 
Cristua ("copy thyself"). 

Surcilia speak the Name; 

digiti check it off; and in 
merum it is traced. 

[Surcilia for supercilia, like sursum 
for supersum.] 



Cipher Reading. 



IVOD-DI-S NO-DI-C-IS 

NODDICC, 

IVO-ICI-CIS, NO-DI-CICC 

NO-ICI-CICC, IVOIOCIS IVOICIC-IS 

NO-PC-IS (PC=M or S) 
IVOPCICC (IVI=M), 
NOD-DI-S 

NOBIS 
NOICCIS 



NCCI-CC-IC, NCCICDI 



NOICC 
IVOPCI 



Note 1 

IVOB, IVODDI NO-PC-I 



ISPVLAS (E=VIV, IM or IS) 



IVOICCI-CC, N-CC-ICIC NCCICIC 
IV-CC-IOO, IVODIC 
IV-CC-ICCI-CC 
NOB, note 3 



NO-ICI-O, N-CC-ICIC 

above, IV-CC-IOICC 

IVOICCICC (V for A) NOIOIO 

above 

NCCICCIO, 

l-VO-ICI-CC (VO=VV) 

IV-CC-ICI-CC 



9 6 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

20 Verba leges digitis, verba notata mero. 
Cum tibi succurrit Veneris lascivia nostrae, 

Purpureas tenero pollice tange genas. 
Si quid erit de me tacita quod mente queraris, 
Pendeat extrema mollis ab aure manus ; 
25 Cum tibi quae faciam, mea lux, dicamve placebunt, 
Versetur digitis annulus usque tuis. 
Tange manu mensam, quo tangunt more precantes, 

Optabis merito cum mala multa viro : 
Quod tibi miscuerit, sapias, bibat ipse jubeto: 
30 Tu puerum leviter posce quod ipsa velis : 
Quae tu reddideris ego primus pocula sumam, 

Et qua tu biberis hac ego parte bibam. 
Si tibi forte dabit quos praegustaverit ipse, 6 

Re j ice libatos illius ore cibos: 
35 Nee premat impositis sinito tua colla lacertis, 7 

Mite nee in rigido pectore pone caput : 8 

Nee sinus admittat digitos habilesve papillae. 9 

Oscula praecipue nulla dedisse velis : 10 

Oscula si dederis, flam manifestus amator 
40 Et dicam, mea sunt, injeiciamque manus. 

Upon the fingers thou wilt pick those words, 
Words traced in unadulterated drink. 

As soon as our love's license strikes thy mind, 
Then touch with supple thumb those rosy cheeks. 
(If aught you blame me for in moody thought. 
Let thy hand softly from the ear-tip hang ; 
When what I'll do or say will please thee, love, 
Then let thy fingers ever turn a ring). 
When many ills thou'lt wish for sake of Him, 
The meritorious Bridegroom, touch the board 
With hand — and like to those who pray for grace: 
Urge him to drink what He has mixed for thee 
(You ought to know). Call, call in pithy speech 
Upon the Child for what you may desire: 
I'll capture first the goblets given back, 
And from the spot where thou did'st drink I'll drink. 

Perchance He'll give thee what He chewed before; 
Within his mouth thrust back the ropy food: 
Let him not clasp thy throat with circling arms : 
Place not that sweet head on his stony chest : 
Let not thy breast or shapely teats admit 
The fingers. And (particularly this) 
You must not wish that kisses be exchanged: 
If such thou'd give, I'll be a wooer plain, 
Say "Those are mine !" and round thee fold my arms. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 97 



NOTES. 

NOB I: Touch rubrae genae with 
tener pollex for Cristos. 

[If the reader be puzzled by the words 
or directions, let her think — let her as- 
sume meditation's well-known atti- 
tude, finger on the lower tip of the 
ear; when she quickly catches the 
poet's meaning, let her turn a ring — 
let her point the letters with a ring, 
or circular dot (...) beneath.] 
Touch mensa with manus (and touch 
like the Cristui, "who pray"), when 
multa mala are desired. 

Urge the Bridegroom to come and 
drink the anima prepared for Cristua. 

OBIS: Call upon the puer — 

the Cristos — 
and call briefly for pax, the 
quid velis of every christian 
soul. 

The pocula, drained by 
Cristua, will be refilled and 
drained by Ovidius. 

EPVLAS NOBIS 

His next care is to make us under- 
stand that EPVLAS must be reserved 
entirely for "the Christian" (note 4), 
and NOBIS for "the Bridegroom" — 
that nothing, great or small, must pass 
from one to the other. 
He indulges in some rare ciphering, 
and apologetically exclaims "feci multa 
proterve." 

If cibi be proffered from NOI to TS, 
thrust it back into os (NOI). 

Do not let colla ( VLAS ) be clasped 
by lacerti (NOB). 

Do not place mite caput (PVLAS) 
on rigidum pectus (NOBI). 

Let not sinus ( I P V L A S ) admit digi- 
tuli (NOBIC); 

let not habiles papillae (T P V L A S) 
admit digituli (NOBIC). 

And, particularly (as it embraces the 
whole of each), let no oscula (EPVLAS) 
be given to N B I S. Ovidius (E P V= 
LAS) can claim those oscula by letters 
patent, can become an apertus ama- 
tor, say mi-sunt, and lay manus upon 
the Cristua. 



Cipher Reading. 
IVCCICOI NOICIOI, NOIOCI 
IV-CC-IOCCI, NCCIOI-CC-I 



N-CC-IOOI, N-CC-IOOl 

NCCICDI 

IV-CC-ICDI IVOI-CC-I 

NO-ICI-OI, NCCICIOI 

OPC-IS 
CCI-CC-IOIS 
CC-B-IS, 
OBIS OPCIS 

OICICICC, 
CCICIOIS 
CCDIOIS 



IVOI, IICC 

IVOI (IVI=M or S) 

VLACC 
IVCCIOIO 

l-CV-LV-IS PVLAS 
IV-CC-ICICI IVOICICI 

IP-VL-IV-S (IV=N) 
IV-CC-DICIC 

TI-OIVLAS TI-OIVLACC 
above 



EPVLAS (A=0) 
IFIC-VL-AS (A=0) 

EICIVLAS E-ICI-VLAS 
Ml— P-VL-IV-S (IV=N), 
Note 4. 



EP-VL-IV-S 



98 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Haec tamen aspiciam : sed quae bene pallia celant 1 1 

Ilia mihi coeci causa timoris erunt. 
Nee femori committe femur, nee crure cohaere, 12 

Nee tenerum duro cum pede junge pedem. 
45 Multa miser timeo quia feci multa proterve, 13 

Exemplique metu torqueor ipse mei. 
Saepe mihi dominaeque meae properata voluptas 

Veste sub injecta dulce peregit opus: 
Hoc tu non facies? Sed ne fecisse puteris. 14 

50 Conscia de gremio pallia deme tuo: 15 

Vir bibat usque roga precibus, tamen oscula desint, 

Dumque bibit, furtim si potes adde merum. 
Si bene compositus somno vinoque jacebit, 16 

Consilium nobis resque locusque dabunt. 
55 Cum surges abitura domum, surgemus et omnes. 17 

In medium turbae fac memor agmen eas : 18 

Agmine me invenies, aut invenieris in illo. 

Quidquid ibi poteris tangere tange mei : 
Me miserum ! paucas monui quod prosit in horas. 

(I'll see those yet; but what the cloaks hide well 
Will be a cause of dazzling awe to me). 
To thigh trust not the thigh, nor cling with leg, 
Nor join that slim foot with a foot so rough. 

Ah! much I fear since much I've wayward done, 
And I'm on thorns through dread of what I've done. 
Oft has my own delightful task progressed, 
And oft my Lady's solace has sped quick 
Beneath the shelter of a shawl thrown o'er: 
Wilt thou not do this work? But not supposed 
As having done so must thou be. Away 
From breast of thine remove the conscious cloaks. 
The Spouse can revel (ask him) right along — 
But let no kisses pass ; and, while He quaffs, 
Add strong drink (since, 'tween you and me, you can). 

If well composed with sleep and drink He'll lie, 
Matter and place will furnish us a scheme. 

When bound for home thou'lt rise, we all will rise. 
Mind you go through the rabble's middle files : 
In those same files you'll find me, or be found. 
Touch whatsoe'er of me thou can'st touch there 
(Ah me! I lately counseled what can serve). 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 



99 



16. 



NOTES. 

He will look at oscula later on (v. 
63), and with equanimity; but that, 
which "oscula" hides, fills him with 
dazzling awe, since it is the Name at 
which "Every knee should bow, of 
those that are in heaven, on earth, 
and under the earth." Phil. II. 10. 
Give not femur (EPVLAS ) to femur 
( NOBIS); 

Give not crus (PVLAS) to crus 
( NOBI); 

Give not comis pes ( VLAS ) to durus 
pes (NOB). 

He acknowledges and regrets the 
wanton pointing in the foregoing, and 
on many another occasion. But it is 
legitimate ; and there are times (he 
suggests) when such pointing by the 
reunion mode is indispensable, useful 
and desirable — when, for instance 
(taking EPVLAS as a picture), 
Maria (his lady) and Iesous (the 
poet's own delightful task) can be pro- 
duced under cover of a vestis. 
If the poet ciphers so, why not the 
reader? But let her not be supposed 
(by the pagan) to work so. 
His picture is about ready for show, 
and he gives a few last words of ad- 
vice to his hearer. 

(a) With regard to herself: 
Remove the pallia ( E P V L A, 
P V L A S ) from gremium ( EPVLAS), 
and stand forth as Cristua. 

(b) With regard to the Bridegroom; 
Let Him drink right along (in NOB, 
NOBI, OBIS ), and, many ways, in 
NOBIS; but it is best for us to give 
him unadulterated or straight liquor 
(as observed in note 1). 

The Name can be "composed" in 
vinum and somnus. And now, with 
"Christ" and "christian" established 
respectively in NOBIS and EPVLAS, 
the subject matter and very location 
of the words 

vir tuus est epulas nobis 
ought to suggest the poet's scheme as 
Vir tuus est, cristua, Cristos, 
Christ, O christian, is thy Spouse. 
When Cristua ( EPVLAS) rises, 
omnes (NOBIS) rise; all rise to go to 
"the Christians' home," the Jerusalem 
in ADITVRVS. 

ADITVRVS 
Cristua ( ADITVR ) is told to go into 
medium turbae agmen, 

and there to 
touch Ovidius. She does so and does 
not forget the good advice (making 
TV=M, S or T) given her (note 13). 



Cipher Reading. 



EP-VL-VIC-C (VIC=R),IVOBICC (IVI=M) 
P-VL-VIC-C, IVO-ICCI (IVO=R) 
VLTIS V-LV-IS, NOICIC NOB 



IT-I-ICV-LV-IS, EPV-LT-IS 
(LT=VT or M) 
IT-IIC-VL-V-IS, EP-VL-TIS 



EICVLA, IOVLV-IS 
E-ICI-VLIVS, 

note 4 



note 5 



NODDICC 

NOBIS, NOICDI-CC 



note 4 
NOICICIS 



AIO-IT-VDVVS 



AICI-TV-ICV 

IVI-OI-TV-DV AICI-TV-ICV 
A-DI-TV-IV-C 
ADI-TV-ICV 



ioo THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

60 Separor a domina nocte jubente mea: 19 

Nocte vir includet. Lacrymis ego moestus obortis 20 

Qua licet ad saevas prosequor usque fores. 
Oscula jam sumet; jam non tantum oscula sumet. 21 

Quod mihi das furtim jure coacta dabis ; 22 

65 Verum invita dato, potes hoc, similisque coactae. 

Blanditiae taceant, sitque maligna Venus : 23 

Si mea vota valent ilium quoque nil juvet opto, 24 

Sin minus; at certe te juvet inde nihil. 
Sed quaecumque tamen noctem fortuna sequatur, 25 

70 Cras mihi constanti voce dedisse nega. 

I'm parted from my Queen by despot night 
(In darkness will the Bridegroom bar him up). 
With broken heart and welling tears I'll go 
(Where it's allowed) unto those rugged gates. 

Now kisses will He take — yea, more than those. 
What thou dost give to me in furtive way, 
Thou'lt give by justice forced ; but, will or nill, 
Give it (thou can'st), and like to one that must. 

If my desires have force I wish that nought 
Itself may help the same (or, if not, less) : 
Yet, surely nothing ought assist thee then. 

But whatsoe'er night's fortune be, next day 
Ignore for sake of me what thou hast given ; 
Ignore it, too, in speech that falters not. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 101 



NOTES. 

19. Ovidius ( DITVR ) is separated from 
Maria ( EPVLAS ) by Octavius 
Augustus Caesar ( NOB ISA ) — "the 
ruling darkness" (as he bitterly dubs 
him), whose future punishment he 
foresees in Tartarus. 

20. His route ( DITVR VS ) marked by 
moeror and obortae lacrimae, Ovidius 
moves from DITVR to ITVRV, and 
then to TVRVS — where he comes to 
the durae fores. 

This tends to make visible the division 
between AD I and TVRVS, and so pre- 
pares us for the further elaboration of 
his scheme. 
vir tuus est epulas nobis adi turus. 

21. The Bridegroom now takes oc- 
cula ( EPVLAS ) and so claims them 
for Iesous : He takes more — 

the ADI TVRVS or Dei Filius; and the 

picture now reads 

vir tuus est Iesous Cristos, Dei Filius, 

Thy Spouse is Jesus Christ, the Son of 

God. 

22. The same division of T into II, prac- 
tised for Ovidius in TVRVS (note 20), 
can be practised (and lawfully) for 
Filius (note 21). "You are em- 
powered to do so," he tells the reader ; 
"and, whether you will or will not, 
you must do so in this case" — since 
there is no other way of pointing 
Filius. 

EASD EM 

23. Let blanditiae be tacitae, 

and Cytherea maligna. 

24. If his vota ( EAS, DEM ) count, he 
wishes that quoque — nihil ( EASD- 
E M ) may help this same discourse 
("ilium," with sermonem under- 
stood); or even minus ( EASD) — 
"less" than the whole word, for 
EASD points Cristua; but surely the 
nihil (EM), with its suggestive point- 
ing, ought to assist the reader in form- 
ing Christiana from the whole EAS= 
DEM; and thus make the entire verse 
read 

"Thy Spouse is Jesus Christ, the Son 
of God, O christian." 

25. His valedictory (a needed one in those 
days) is "Read me like a christian at 
night, like a pagan by day (and re- 
member not to let your christian heart 
trip up your pagan tongue!)" 



Cipher Reading. 

DITVIOV, 
note 13 

IVOICCISA NODICICCA IVOI-CC-I-SI-V 



NODICICCA 

DI-TV-RVCC 

DI-TVIOVVS l-CC-IT-VIOVV-S, note 19 

ITVI-CC-VV, IIVDVVS 

TV-IOVVS TV-IOVVS 



note 10 

notes 1 1 and 13 

ADI IIVRVS 



EACCIOITINI, EASICEM 
E-TI-SIC-IT-IIVI, FIV-IS-ICFINI (FF=M) 

LIIIVS, DEW 

FIVICCIC— IIVSNI (E=IKS) 



FI-IV-SD (IV=N) 

ITIACCIC 
above 

IT-IASICIIVSNI 



102 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

I. AMOR. V 

The preceding poem was devoted to "the Bridegroom" : this, 
the next in order, is claimed by "the Lady," and is equally ex- 
plicative. 

Scheme: His picture, taken from the opening verse, is 
erat mediamque 
and consists of two parts, a background (ediamque) and a fore 
one (erat m). The latter is devoted to "the Lady's" name, the 
former to her most distinctive attribute; and the two conjoined 
are made to read 

"Mary, mother of God." 
Two points in the poem, specially worthy of notice, are the 
artistic utilization of the break between the T and M of "erat m," 
and the clever adaptation of "caetera" to the remaining 
"ediamque." 

Aestus erat, mediamque dies exegerat horam. I 

Apposui medio membra levanda toro. 2 

Pars adaperta fuit, pars altera clausa fenestrae : 
Quale fere silvae lumen habere solent, 
5 Qualia sublucent fugiente crepuscula Phaebo, 
Aut ubi nox abiit, nee tamen orta dies : 
Ilia verecundis lux est praebenda puellis 

Qua timidus latebras speret habere pudor. 
Ecce Corinna venit, tunica velata recincta, 3 

10 Candida dividua colla tegente coma, 

Qualiter in thalamos formosa Semiramis isse 
Dicitur, et multis Lais amata viris. 

'Twas summer heat, and day had routed noon. 
On the familiar tester I have placed 
Those members that require to be relieved. 
Part closed, part open were the lattices ; 
The light was such as forests mostly have; 
As twilights glimmer when the sun departs, 
Or when has fled the night, nor yet come day: 
And this same light (where timid shame can hope 
To have retreat) is given to modest maids. 

Lo! dressed in wrapper loose, Corinna comes, 
With white throat hidden by her parted hair — 
In manner like, the fair Semiramis 
And Lais loved by many men are said 
To have proceeded to the nuptial halls. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 103 
NOTES. Cipher Reading. 



ERAT MEDIAMQVE 

1. The picture is outlined and divided 
by saying 

(a) "It was aestus (ERATM) ; 

(b"> Diespiter (E D I A M Q V E) had 

routed meridies." 

ERAT M 

2. Ovidius reclines upon medius torus; 
and fenestra — part close, part open 
(between T and M) — gives forth a 
lumen like that of silvae, and an 
illustratio like that of crepuscula ; "a 
light" that looks like cadit-sol, or 
nox-fugit; "a light" that is fit for 
timidae puellae. 

3. Corinna ("the crowned Lady") 
comes, veiled in a recincta tunica, 

and with coma (ED, V A T M) 
upon colla — 
like (in the "coma") to Semiramis, or 
to Hetaira (for which "Lais" is a syn- 
onym). 



EDVATM 

EDITIVV-QV-E, 

EDIVIM-QV-E 



FIRVITM, ERTiTM FIRVI-TV-V (IVI=M) 
ICSIOVATNI 

FIRI-VT-NI, ERV-IT-NI 
IVVSIOVATVT, IIVCCICVATVV 
ISDVA— TVV, 
IV-VDV— VITVV (IV=N) 
EDVATIVI IT-ID-VV-IT-VV 



L-III-CVATNI LIIR-IVI-INI (IVI=M or T) 

IIVSIO, VV-IT-M 

IIVCCIO, VV-IT-VV 

IIVSIO-VV-IT-NI 

IIV-SI-OVI-TI-IM (IIV=M, S or T) 



IG 4 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Deripui tunicam : nee multum rara nocebat : 4 

Pugnabat tunica sed tamen ilia tegi, 
15 Cumque ita pugnaret, tanquam quae vincere nollet, 
Victa est non aegre proditione sua. 
Ut stetit ante oculos posito velamine nostros, 5 

In toto nusquam corpore menda fuit. 
Quos humeros, quales vidi tetigique lacertos : 6 

20 Forma papillarum quam fuit apta premi : 
Quam castigato planus sub pectore venter ; 

Quantum et quale latus: quam juvenile femur. 
Singula quid referam? nil non laudabile vidi, 
Et nudam pressi corpus ad usque meum. 
25 Caetera quis nescit? Lassi requievimus ambo. 7 

Proveniant medii sic mihi saepe dies. 8 

I snatched the wrapper off : so rare it was, 
It interfered not much ; but still she strove 
With that same wrapper to be hid from view, 
And while she strove, like one who cared not win, 
By due prolonging she was won with ease. 

As stripped of vesture 'fore our eyes she stood, 
In all her being stain there nowhere was. 
What shoulders and what arms I saw and touched ! 
How fit for pressing was the nipples' shape! 
How smooth the midriff 'neath that chastened breast ! 
How ample and how seemly, too, the waist! 
How marked with youthful energy the thigh! 
Why mention every single mark? I gazed 
At nothing that deserves reproach — and bare 
I pressed her even to my substance own. 

Who is there does not know what follows next? 
With labor spent we both lay down to rest. 
May noondays such oft come to pass for me. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 105 



NOTES. 

4. The tunica is rara (so "rare" in tex- 
ture that it hides but thinly the wearer 
of it) ; and the very prolonging 
("proditione") of the letters helps 
him in his purpose. 

ERATM 

5- The "tunic" is gone, and Maria stands 
before him, unblemished by transposi- 
tion (for the name reads straight 
from left to right). 

6. His eyes feast on and his hand touches 
(or points) 

the humeri, lacerti and papillae; 
the planus venter 

and castigatum pectus ; 
the latus and jvvenile femur; 

and (deeming it no reproach upon 
modesty to gaze on and press — let- 
ters), he presses Ovidius on what is 
before him. 

ERATM EDIAMQVE 

7. Who knows not what comes next — the 
caetera (EDIAMQVE)? The chris- 
tian who sees Maria in ERATM can see 
Dei mater in the remaining E D I 
A M Q V E, and will read the full pic- 
ture as 

Maria, Dei mater 
Mary, mother of God. 

8. The two deserve a rest, since the pic- 
ture is "literally" exhausted, the poet 
mentally so ; and, with a feeling that 
he has done well, a prayer is offered 
for the success of future efforts. 



Cipher Reading. 
note 3, LIIRIVI-IM (LVI=R) 



VV-ID-VVI-I-IM (VVI=R) 



IT-IRV-IT-M, IT-IRATVV, LIIICVAIIIVI 
FIRVITNI IT-IRVITNI 
MVSIOVATVT FIRVITNI 
LIIR-IVI-IM, EICVV-IT-NI 
F-ID-VVI-IIV-V 



note 2 



E-DI-AMQVE 
EDI AVT-QV-E 



106 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

HORACE : I CAR. XIV. 

His picture takes in the entire first verse: 

O navis referunt in mare te novi. 

Scheme: The Name, under cover of "a bark," is carved 
first in "O navis" (where the bark is leaving for its voyage) ; 
then in "mare" and in "mar" (where it is pictured at length as 
suffering sorely from storms at sea) ; and finally in "te novi" 
(where it reaches the haven in good shape). 

O navis, referunt in mare te novi I 

Fluctus. O quid agis: fortiter occupa 2 

Portum. Nonne vides ut 3 

Nudum remigio latus, 4 

5 Et malus celeri saucius Africo 

Antennaeque gemunt, ac sine funibus 
Vix durare carinae 

Possint imperiosius 
Aequor? Non tibi sunt integra lintea, 
10 Non di quos iterum pressa voces malo. 

Quamvis Pontica pinus, 5 

Silvae filia nobilis, 
Jactes et genus et nomen, inutile : 
Nil pictis timidus navita puppibus 
15 Fidit. Tu, nisi ventis 

Debes ludibrium, cave. 

The freshened waves force thee to sea, O bark. 
How thou dost sail ! The haven bravely make. 
Dost thou not see how dismal groans that side 

Bereft of oars? 
How groans the mast that's split by Afric gale? 
How groan the yards? And how the very keels 
Can scarcely without ropes stand fast against 

The whelming sea? 
Thy sails are faulty ; faulty, too, the gods 
Whom thou, hard pressed, repeatedly dost call. 
Though made of Pontic pine (a famed wood's growth), 

Thou dost take pride 
In pedigree and Name, 'tis useless all : 
The wary sailor trusts not painted ships. 
Take care, take care thou dost not lend thyself 

A sport for winds. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 107 



NOTES. 
NAVIS REFERVNT IN MARE 

The navis (0 NAVIS), "the good 

ship," Iesous Cristos, is carried by 

fluctus novi (REFERV NT IN) to 
mare (MARE). 

[There is a verbal play on [0, the 
Greek emphatic '0.] 

He admires the straight course of 
Cristos (from right to left), and en- 
courages the bark to make for portus 
(the TENOVI in the distance) 

MARE 

The navis, Iesous Cristos, that 
ploughs this MARE, is, indeed, a 
lordly bark: 

the remigium is good, the malus 
straight and lofty; the trabes are 
sound, and the carinae staunch ; the 
lintea are "all there" ("integra"), and 
"all there," too, are Cristiani — "the 
gods" who look down with deep con- 
cern upon this bark-bearing sea. 

But storms arise : the celer Africus 
sweeps "the sea"; and, when next the 
seer regains his vision, the bruised 
and battered navis, Iesous Cristos, is 
beheld in MAR. 

MAR 

The oars ( E or — — — — , "vi 
desne?") are gone, and leave a 
nudus latus; the malus is half broken 
off, and the remainder splintered; the 
trabes are so damaged that V must 
be spliced for E ,• the carinae are in 
such bad shape that all kinds of make- 
shifts (V for A and E, A for N) are 
employed, and only for funes they 
would fall apart in the aequor; the 
lintea have a flaw (V for E ) in the 
middle ; and the Cristui (MAD, 
MAR) are much inferior to Cristiani. 
It can still call itself a pinus Ponti, 
silvae filia notae (i. e. a cedrus 
Libani), and can boast of having upon 
it the Name (note 3) and its pedigree 
(i. e. Deus and Maria). But it is all 
futile; and the catus nauta mistrusts 
pictae puppes in the same way that the 
wary reader (who likes the plain, un- 
varnished Name) mistrusts such con- 
densed picture forms, well painted 
though they be in words. "It is not 
worth while," for picture or writer, "to 
be a ludus for venti," a pastime for 
windy applause, is his commentary on 
the labors bestowed upon MAR. 



Cipher Reading. 



ONI-VV-IS (0=V), 

ONAV1S CC-VII-VV-ICC 

RFIFFIDVV N-TI-IV (IIV=S; Tl or A=0) 



TVIVIV-OVI (OVI=R) 



N-IVI-RI-TI, MIVDVE MVII-CV-IVV 



MAICVICS, MARLII 
TVADVE, 
NIAIOVLII 
NIADVE 
NIADVIIVS (E=IKS) 



WARE VVADVFI 



NIADV, NIVIIOV NIITICCV 



NIIVDV VTADV, MVilOV 

TVVIIOV 
VV-IV-ICCV (IV=N) 

NIAICV 

IVIAICCV, 

NIIVIOV 

TVITICC, TVITICV, 

note 3 

NIV-IIC-V NI-IVI-OV, 

TVAIOV IVIAR NIAIOV, TVVIIOV 

NIAICV 

MADV MAIOV, 

TVAICV, TVADV NIAIOV 

TVAIOV VVVIIOV 



MVIICV, NIADV 



108 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Nuper sollicitum quae mihi taedium, 6 

Nunc desiderium curaque non levis, 
Interfusa nitentes 
20 Vites aequora Cycladas. 

O Thou, so late a plodding task for me, 
But now my longing (and no vain pursuit), 
May the bright Cyclades traversed by seas 
Be shunned by thee. 

II. CAR. XIII. 

Scheme: The poet, after meditating on the manner of 
Christ's death, addresses "the Cross" under cover of his picture 
(ARBOS), lashes with scathing speech the ringleader of the 
crucifying gang, and then (in one apt line of verse) makes sen- 
sible to the reader's eye and ear the picture that would be seen 
on Calvary. 

His next effort is to divide ARBOS into four parts, each of 
which points both the Name and the Cross; and, having thus 
paid tribute to God, he concludes by giving to Caesar the things 
that are Caesar's. 

The dialectical, allotropical and divisional changes are those 
already met with. In reunions we find Dl, Tl, SI for A, E, H; 
VV(or equivalents like CV, 00, RB) for M, S, T or D; IV for N; 
and CO (or VV) for F. 

Ille et nefasto te posuit die 1 

Quicumque primum, et sacrilega manu 
Produxit, arbos, in nepotum 

Perniciem opprobriumque pagi : 2 

5 Ilium et parentis crediderim sui 
Fregisse cervicem et penetralia 
Sparsisse nocturno cruore 

Hospitis : ille venena Colcha 

Whoe'er, O trave, put thee in place that day 
(A day assigned to evil omens too!) 
And, with a crowd of scoffers, raised thee high, 
He did so for a tribe's eternal shame 
And downfall of its children yet to come ; 
And I could well believe that he had cracked 
His very parent's neck, and bedrooms stained 
With clotted blood of one who sought his door: 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 109 



NOTES. 

TENOVI 

The storm is over, the sea behind 
her, and the navis enters this, her des- 
tined "haven" (note 2). She enters 
it, trim and taut; with good remigium, 
a straight and stately malus, with 
trabes, carinae, and lintea, all sound, 
and once more with propitious Cristiani 
watching over her. This is no "paint- 
ed" ship : Iesous Cristos is plainly 
carved upon it in golden letters, and 
coniisi nautae man her decks. This is 
no plodding task ("taedium"), no 
trifling study ("cura non levis") in 
cipher capabilities ; it is a labor of 
love, the desire of the poet's love and 
labor; and here he wishes to remain 
without trying the MARE — the 
aequora among lucidae Cyclades. 



ARBOS 

1. He addresses the patibulum, placed on 
Soteria (the mystic term for the Fri- 
day — proverbially an unlucky day — on 
which our Lord was to be crucified. 

2. "The sceptre shall not be taken away 
from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, 
till he come that is to be sent." (Gen. 
XLIX. 10.) 



Cipher Reading. 



TI-FN-OV-I (OV=VV or M) 

IIICSIV-CC-VI 

TL-IIIVO-VI (VI=N), 

TEIVOVI, TI-IVSNOVI, TENOVI 

TI1VSNOVI. 

TENOVI TLIINOVI 

TIFNOVI TI-VV-SNOVI 



VVAIOVLII, VVADVI-TI N-IT-IIOVVIV 



ADVICCCCS, 
ARIODOS, 



no THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Et quidquid usquam concipitur nefas 

10 Tractavit, agro qui statuit meo 3 

Te, triste lignum, te caducum 4 

In domini caput immerentis. 5 

Quid quisque vitet, numquam homini satis, 6 

Cautum est in horas. Navita Bosporum 
15 Poenus perhorrescit, neque ultra 

Caeca timet aliunde fata : 

Miles sagittas et celerem fugam 
Parthi : catenas Parthus et Italum 
Robur: sed improvisa lethi 
20 Vis rapuit rapietque gentes. 

Quam paene furvae regna Proserpinae 7 

Et judicantem vidimus Aeacum; 

Sedesque discretas piorum ; et 
Aeoliis fidibus querentem 

25 Sappho puellis de popularibus ; 
Et te sonantem plenius aureo, 

Alcaee, plectro dura navis, 

Dura fugae, mala dura belli. 



Poisons of Colchis and whatever else 

Most damnable the mind conceives, brewed he 

Who for my patrimony raised thee up, 

O doleful trave, that falls advisedly 

Upon the unoffending Master's head. 

What each may shun (one never has enough) 
Is providently guarded through the hours. 
The Punic sailor feels his blood run cold 
When pointing for the Bosphorus (nor heeds 
The fates obscure that elsewhere lurk beyond) : 
The soldier fears the Parthian's nimble flight 
And arrows, while in turn the Parthian fears 
The gyves and prowess of Italian men : 
But death's attack, that cannot be foreseen, 
Has seized (and seize it will) our cultured race. 

How, in a way, the black Persephone's 
Domains we've seen, and Aeacus the judge, 
And the sequestered regions of the good, 
And Sappho crooning on Aeolian chords 
About the children from the people sprung, 
And thee, Alcaeus, with a golden quill 
Sounding more fully navigation's plights, 
The plights of exile, and the plights of war. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. in 



NOTES. 
ARBOS 

Heaven (the poet's patrimony) could 
not be obtained until Christ suffered 
on the cross. 

This use of "lignum" dispels the 
"tree" meaning of arbos and limits it 
to any piece of timber. 
Iesous Christos is fastened on ARBOS. 
caducum : the term expresses more than 
cadens, since it means either "falling 
of itself" (as an apple from the tree), 
and, hence, falling through some plan 
or design ; or "falling by escheat" (cor- 
ruption of blood, for instance) "to the 
lord of the fee," and, hence, falling 
through established ordinance. 
This ARBOS with its "cross" and 
Name, must not be shunned by the 
reader; but there are several smaller 
portions in it ("there can never be 
enough," remarks the pious author), 
with the same "cross" and Name, that 
may be shunned at discretion — and he 
proceeds to enumerate them ("ad 
majorem Dei gloriam") : 
RBO: Poenus navita dreads Bospo- 
rus — while he points patibulum 
and Iesous Cristos ; but he 
heeds not the caeca fata in 
the BOS beyond(s\nce this cannot 
point the cross or Name). 
RBOS: miles fears sagittae 

and celer fuga Parthi — 
while he points patibulum 
and Iesous Cristos. 
ARBO: Parthus dreads catenae 

and Italum robur — 
while he points patibulum and 
Iesous Cristos. 
ARB : improvisa lethi vis 

carries off Cristui — and 
carries off patibulum with 
Iesous Cristos crucified upon 
it. 
Each of those four combinations is 
guarded by horae. The "rapiet" fore- 
shadows the persecutions in store for 
christians — the "gentes," those bound 
by the common tie of religious clan- 
ship, with a further notion of superi- 
ority (as implied in our word "gen- 
try"). . 

He spies "the common enemy" of the 
gentes in his picture, and masses his 
forces for attack: 

ARBOS 
He sees (in cipher fashion, "pene") 
Tartarus and Aeacus, 

Elysium, Sappho and Alcaeus. 



Cipher Reading. 



I-TI-CV-BOS TI-ICVDDOS 



IC-VI-CIOO (VI=N) .C-VI-ODO, 
IOVICCCC-CC, IOVICCICC-CC, 
DVIODO DVDICC-CC 
DI-OOCC DI-COS 



RI-CC-OS, IOVI-CC-IOOS 

RICCOS RIC-CO-S (CO=F) ICVI-CC-OS 

IOVICICCCS 

RIODOS ICVDDOS 

TI-DVICICO, IV-IOVIOOO (IV=N) 

ADVI-CC-O ARPCO (A=0) 

AICVICCIC-CC 

TIDVBO VIDVDDO 

VIIOVICCI-CC l-TI-CV-DI-C 

VI-RB (RB=VV), 

TIDVICC 

AICCVICCI-CC, 

ADVIOD TIIOVICD 



DVIOOO, RIOOOS, AR-DI-OO, ADVIOO 



ADVICICOS, AR-DI-COS 

IVIC-VB-OS, TI-I-CV-PCOS, ADVICCOS 



[12 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Utrumque sacro digna silentio 8 

30 Mirantur umbrae dicere; sed magis 
Pugnas et exactos tyrannos 

Densum humeris bibit attre vulgus. 
Quid mirum, ubi illis carminibus stupens 9 

Demittit atras bellua centiceps 
35 Aures, et intorti capillis 

Eumenidum recreantur angues; 
Quin et Prometheus et Pelopis parens 

Dulci laborum decipitur sono. 10 

Nee curat Orion leones II 

40 Aut timidos agitare lyncas. 

What each one sings, for sacred silence meet, 
The shades admire ; but quarrels rather 'tis 
And banished tyrants that the vulgar crowd, 
The shoulder-jostling crowd, drinks with the ear. 

Oh, what a sight ! where, by those verses dulled, 
The hundred-headed beast his foul ears droops, 
And Furies' adders writhing in his hair 
Are into vigorous action reproduced ! 
And where Prometheus and Pelops' sire 
Are by the burden's pleasing sound beguiled! 

To harry lions too, and lynxes that 
No spirit show, Orion does not care. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 113 



NOTES. 

ARBOS 

What Sappho and Alcaeus sing is 
rightly interpreted and admired by 
Christians (the "umbrae," or those 
who keep private, out of sight — in the 
shade as it were) ; but it is otherwise 
with the pagan crowd that uses only 
its ears and renders those poets in the 
vulgar sense. 

"Here is wisdom. He that hath un- 
derstanding, let him count the num- 
ber of the beast. For it is the num- 
ber of a man" (Rev. XIII. 18) — and 
the number, in this case, is one 
hundred. 

He sees Caesar — the C-headed, or 
hundred-headed C-aesar ; 
the centiceps bellua 

with atrae aures demissae; 
and, intorti capillis 

Eumenidum 

recreantur angues. 
Here, also, under cover of 

Prometeus and Pelopis parens, 
are Augustus and Octavius — the 
crafty statesman and ambitious Tanta- 
lus (or would-be earth-lord) of his 
day. 

"And yet," exclaims the poet with 
caustic wit, "quid mirum ! this living 
synonym for cruelty, craft and greed 
is so dulled by a false theme and my 
own metrical labors, that he does not 
recognize this picture of himself." 

Why bother with 

the leones or conscripti, 
and the lynces or censores — 
the depraved senators and the censors 
who truckled to the despot's wishes? 
Our poetic hunter flies at higher 
game, and his motto is "aut Caesar, 
aut nullus." 



Cipher Reading. 



AR-DI-COS 

IV-IOVDDOCC (IV=N) ARBOCC 
ARI-CC-OS ARBOS AI-CV-IOI-CC-OS 
IV-RIC1COS VIRICCOS 
IV-IOVICI-CC-OS 
IV-IOVICCIOCCS IV-R-DI-COS 

ADVIOI-CC-OCC, VIRPOOS IV-RPOOS 
ADVICICOS, VIRICIOOS 

IV-RICI-OO-S (00=VV), IV-IOVICCOS 
IV-R-DI-OOS, IV-ICVDICCCS 



ii 4 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

VERGIL: ECLOGUE II. 

"Vergil loved a boy!" is the one and only accusation brought 
against the Mantuan bard. This charge (founded upon the 
present Eclogue) is undoubtedly true; but — who was the boy? 

Scheme: His picture is ALEXIM, himself the singer, and 
his theme is the Saviour — for Corydon ( xopuoog, "a songster") 
and Alexis (aUU, "to save") are thin disguises for the poet's 
self and for the Expected of nations. 

Gazing on the Saviour's name, he yearns for its owner; and 
the Spirit of Him who looks from that Name inspires as fervent 
an adjuration as was ever breathed by human lips, and prompts 
him to "undisguised speech" (incondita) though he knows his 
"zeal to be futile" (studio inani) on the pagan crowd. Nor is 
the Name itself forgotten, since the picture word is divided into 
nine portions, each of which points "Jesus Christ." 

The chief features requiring notice in the cypher reading 
are the various divisions of E; the use of X for CS or KS; of IVL, 
IVV, or ICV for R ; and of IS or IM for IT or A. 

Formosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexim, I 

Delicias domini ; nee quid speraret habebat 2 

tantum inter densas umbrosa cacumina fagos 
assidue veniebat. Ibi haec incondita solus 
5 montibus et silvis studio jactabat inani. 3 

O crudelis Alexi, nihil mea carmina curas? 
nil nostri miserere? mori me denique coges? 4 

Nunc etiam pecudes umbras et frigora captant; 5 

nunc virides etiam occultant spineta lacertos ; 

Eagerly longing for Alexis fair, 
The Lord's Delight, was Corydon the swain; 
Nor reason had he as to why he hoped 
Save this, that He was coming slow but sure, 
As leafy tops 'mongst crowded beeches come. 
Secluded there in mounts and groves, he spoke 
These revelations with a futile zeal: 

"Cruel Alexis, dost Thou pay no heed 
To hymns of mine ? Hast pity on us not ? 
Wilt Thou enforce that I in time should die ? 
The cattle now enjoy the shades and breeze ; 
Now brambles hide green lizards from the view ; 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 115 
NOTES. Cipher Reading. 



ALEXIM 

1. Vergilius (or Corydon) craves for 

Iesous Christos. 
Delic. domini : "This is my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased." 
Matt. III. 17. 

2. Faith, not reason, makes him believe 
that the Saviour is coming — coming 
surely but slowly as 

umbrosa cacumina come among many 
a fagus (ALEX, LEXI, EXIM). 

3. "Vergil" (note 1) stands among 

montes and silvae. 

4. denique — "in process of time" will 
men forget that the poet wrote for 
Christ? Another construction is ad- 
missible, viz. : Must the poet die "at 
the very end" of the allotted period 
(for Christ was looked for in the time 
of Augustus) ? 

5. The picture word is anagrammatically 
outlined : 

pecudes enjoy umbrae: 
spineta hide virides lacerti. 



TILEVVIVV, ALLII-VVI-NI (VVI=R) 
ALE-VV-IM (A for O) TI-LISVVINI 



VILEVVIM ALLIICSINI 
ALL-IIV-V, LLIICSI, FIVVINI 



l-VL-LII-VV-INI, IVL-E-VV-IM (IM=A) 



ALEVVINI ALECS-IVV 
TILI-TI-VV-INI VILE-VV-IM ALEVVIM 



n6 " THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

10 Thestylis et rapido fessis messoribus aestu 
allia serpullumque herbas contundit olentes: 
at me cum raucis, tua dum fastigia lustro 6 

sole sub ardenti, resonant arbusta cicadis. 

Nonne fuit satius tristes Amaryllidis iras 7 

15 atque superbia pati fastidia? nonne Menalcan, 

quamvis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses ? 8 

formose puer, nimium ne crede colori ; 

alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur. 9 

Despectus tibi sum, nee qui sim quaeris, Alexi, 
20 quam dives pecoris nivei, quam lactis abundans. 

mille meae Siculis errant in montibus agnae; 10 

lac mihi non aestate novum, non frigore dent; 

canto quae solitus, siquando armenta vocabat, 

Amphion Dircaeus in Actaeo Aracintho. 
25 nee sum adeo informis: nuper me in litore vidi 

cum placidum ventis staret mare ; non ego Daphnim, 

judice te, metuam si numquam fallit imago. 

And Thestyl pounds together pungent herbs, 
Garlic and thyme, for those who sow the lands, 
Exhausted as they are with fervid zeal : 
But while I trace thy marks 'neath ardent sun, 
Groves with hoarse crickets often call to me. 

Has there not been enough and more of time 
To let the pensive troubles and proud qualms 
Of Amaryllis into being come? 
To let Menalcas also bear his share 
(Black though he be, and white as sunlight Thou) ? 
Trust not o'er-much to color, gracious Child ; 
White privets fall, black hyacinths are saved. 

Am I an object of contempt to Thee, 
You ask, Alexis, and not who I am, 
How rich in white-fleeced flocks, how rich in milk. 
My lambs in thousands roam Sicilian mounts ; 
Summer or winter there's new milk for me ; 
What Dirce's Amphion sang when herds he called 
On Acte's Aracynthus — that I sing. 
Nor am I so bereft of grace : of late 

1 viewed me on the shore when, free from winds, 
The ocean's waters like a mirror stood ; 

If what's reflected ne'er deceives, then I 

May fear not for the crown, with Thee as judge. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 117 
NOTES. Cipher Reading. 



ALEXIM 

Testylis pounds alium (ALE, EXIM ) 
and serpullum for the messores tired 
from rapidus aestus. 
While tracing vestigia beneath ardens 
Phoebus, arbusta 

with raucae cicadae often call 
Vergilius (ALEXI, ALEXIN, ALEXIM). 
Mariem (or Amaryllis) and 
Iosepus (or Menalcas) suggest the 
query, "Is it not time for Mary and 
Joseph to appear and bear their 
troubles?" 

"Who having heard, was troubled at 
his saying, and thought with herself 
what manner of salutation this should 
be." * * * 

"And Mary said to the angel : How 
shall this be done, because I know not 
man?" Luke I. 29, 34. 
Joseph, like his fellow men, was sub- 
ject to the blackness of original sin. 
Prophetic of the fact that the black 
Barabbas was chosen in preference to 
the spotless Christ, 
mille oves (ALE, LEX, 

EXI, EXIM)— and each of 
the four points Cristui — roam 
through montes Siciliae ; be it aestas 
or frigor, 
lac (ALL, LE, EX, XI M ), "new" in 
pointing, is present ; he sings what 
Dircaeus Amphion sang, when calling 
armenta on 

Actaeus Aracintus ; and 
standing on littus, and viewing him- 
self in placidum mare, he notices 
many points of resemblance between 
the pointing of Vergilius and Iesous 
(note 1) : — in other words, his only 
flocks are "the Christians" whom he 
tends; his mode of living is temper- 
ate in all seasons ; his song is the 
same Saviour whom former poets 
hymned in bygone ages in other lands ; 
and on suitable occasions he examines 
his inner self to see if his soul be like 
to God, and pure enough to make him 
hope for the crown of salvation and 
for Him whom Daphnis figures : "In 
that day the Lord of hosts shall be a 
crown of glory." Isa. xxviii. 5. 



TILITI-VV-INI; ALICS, EVVIM 
TILICSVVIVV, TILIIVSCSIIVI 
ALL-IIV-VIM ALE-VV-INI 
ALITI-VV-IIVI ALE-VV-INI 
ALECSIIVI, ALEVVINI 
ALEVV-IM ALI-TI-C-SI-M 
ALIVVSVVI, VILITIVVIIV, note 1 

ALE-VV-IM ALIIVS-VV-IIVI 
IVLFI-VV-INI ALIIVS-VV-SI-NI 



VILI-VV-S ALLII, LIIVS-VV LECS 
IVVS-VV-I LIICSI, EVVIM L-IIV-V-IM 
TILIVVS, LIIVSCS, IVVSCSI, ISVVIVT 
note 3, ALE-VV-IIVI; ALITIC-SI-NI 

IVL-FIVV-IVV (IVL or IVV=R) 
ALL, LICS, EVV, VV-IM 

ALECSIVT TI-LLII-VV-INI 

ALI-TI-VV-SINI, 

ALITIC-SI-NI ALIIVSCSINI; 

IVLFI-VV-IM 

ALLIIVVIM IVL-E-VV-IM (IVL=R) 



n8 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

O tantum libeat mecum tibi sordida rura u 

atque humiles habitare casas, et figere cervos, 

30 haedorumque gregem viridi compellere hibisco 

mecum una. In silvis imitabere Pana canendo: 12 

Pan primum calamos cera conjungere plures 

instituit ; Pan curat oves oviumque magistros : 

nee te paeniteat calamo trivisse labellum. 13 

35 haec eadem ut sciret, quid non faciebat Amyntas? 14 

Est mihi disparibus septem compacta cicutis 15 

fistula, Damoetas dono mihi quam dedit olim 
et dixit moriens, te nunc habet ista secundum : 
dixit Damoetas, invidit stultus Amyntas. 

40 praeterea duo nee tuta mihi valle reperti 16 

capreoli, sparsis etiam nunc pellibus albo, 
bina die siccant ovis ubera : quos tibi servo, 
jam pridem a me illos abducere Thestylis orat, 17 

et faciet, quoniam sordent tibi munera nostra. 

45 Hue ades, o formose puer: tibi lilia plenis 18 

ecce ferunt nymphae calathis; tibi Candida nais 
pallentes violas et summa papavera carpens, 

O that Thou would'st but occupy with me 
Those sordid fields, those humble cottages, 
Bring forth the deer to public view, and with 
A vigorous wand infold the flocks — and me! 
In groves Thou shalt resemble Pan in song : 
Pan first taught men to join some reeds with wax; 
Pan guards the sheep and masters of the sheep ; 
And may it prove no source of grief to Thee 
To have thy sweet lip chapped upon the rood. 
(To know those things what did Amyntas not?) 

I have, well-joined with seven various stalks, 
A syrinx which Damoetas (I admit 
It for myself) once gave, and dying said 
"This syrinx claims thee now a second time." 
(Damoetas spoke; Amyntas foolish looked.) 
Two lambs I also have, found in a vale 
(Unsafe to me), their pelts now flecked with white; 
The mother's udders, two by two, they drain 
Quite dry each day : those same I guard for Thee. 
For quite a while is Thestyl craving hard 
To take them from me ; and succeed she will, 
Since gifts of ours to Thee are mean and poor. 

Come hither, gracious Child ! Behold, the nymphs 
Bring hampers filled with lilies unto Thee : 
The candid naiad, plucking poppies rare 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 119 



16. 



NOTES. 

ALEXIM 

Here are the sordida rura, 

humiles casae, 
damae, and the oves or Cristui (ALE, 
LEX, EXI, EXIM, note 10) who, 
with Vergilius (note 1), are to be all 
folded together as Cristiani with a 
viridis hibiscus. 

In silvae (note 3), Iesous (note 1) 
will be "pointedly" like Lycaeus (the 
Pan of poetry) ; the same Lycaeus 
ALEXI. LEXIM) that 

joins plures calami 

with cera ; 
the same Lycaeus (ALEXIM) that 
guards the Cristiani (note 11) and 
their teachers or magistri. 
The labellum and patibulum (or cala- 
mus) of his picture suggest the sor- 
rowful thought of a crucified Saviour 
exclaiming "I thirst." John XIX. 28). 
To know the full significance of "In 
my thirst they gave me vinegar to 
drink." (Ps. LXVIII. 22), what stu- 
dious reflection must have occupied our 
poet? And to apply this thought to 
his picture (so that labellum and pati- 
bulum should have the same point- 
ing), what was not done by this 
Amyntas, this "guardian" ( a/j.6vw ) of 
the revealed and hidden truth? 
He owns a fistula (cleverly put to- 
gether, and in seven sections), given 
him by Damoetas (and the use of V 
for A is admitted and apologized for 
by "dono mihi"). This "syrinx" holds 
the poet twice, first as Vergilius (note 
1), and secondly as Maro (using E 
for 0, a pointing that is foolish — and 
that makes our "guardian" look more 
"foolish" (as he confesses). 
He owns also gemelli, 

sparsis pellibus albore, 
and found in an "unsafe" valles (the 
poet suggests a doubt whether valles 
should be used for vallis). The "twins" 
drain the uber in pairs ( ALE and 
LEX, EXI and XI M ) of the capella, 
and do so quotidie. 
Thestylis (note 5) covets, and will 
get the "gemelli." 

Imploring the Saviour "to come 
hither," he now proceeds to divide his 
picture word into three parts, each of 
which points the Name: 



Cipher Reading. 



ALLII-W-IM IVL-F-IVV-IM 
TI-LLII-VV-INI ALE-VV-IM 
ALE-VV-IIVI 



ALISCSINI 

IVL-FI-VV-INI TI-LFICSIM 

ALEVVIM 

ALI-VV-SVVI LI-TI-C-SI-VT 
IVLFICSI ALECSI, LLIIVVIM 
LI-TI-C-SI-M; 
ALE-VVI L-IT-IVV-IM 



TILECSIM 
ALLIICSIVV: 



ALLIICSIVV, ALLIICSI-M 



ALITICSINI 

V-I-LL-II-V-V-IM 
ALIIVSCSIVT (V for A) 

IVL-E-VV-IM (IVL=R, E for O) 



ALEVVIM 

ALLII-VV-IM, VILFIVVINI ALEW-IVV 

IVLI-TI-VV-IM 

VILLII, LEW; LIIVVI, VVIIVI; 

ALEVVIM 

TILEVVIM 



120 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

narcissum et florem jungit bene olentis anethi; 

turn cassia teque aliis intexens suavibus herbis 
50 mollia luteola pingit vaccinia caltha. 

ipse ego cana legam tenera lanugine mala ; 

castaneasque nuces, mea quas Amaryllis amabat; 

addam cerea pruna, honos erit huic quoque porno; 

et vos, o lauri, carpam et te, proxuma myrte : 
55 Sic positae quoniam suaves miscetis odores. 

Rusticus es, Cory don ; nee munera curat Alexis, 19 

nee, si muneribus certes, concedat Iollas. 

Heu, heu! quid volui misero mini? floribus austrum 20 

perditus et liquidis immisi fontibus apros. 
60 quern fugis? a demens, habitarunt di quoque silvas 

Dardaniusque Paris. Pallas quas condidit arces 

ipsa colat; nobis placeant ante omnia silvae. 

torva leaena lupum sequitur, lupus ipse capellam, 21 

florentem citysum sequitur lasciva capella, 
65 te Corydon, O Alexi : trahit sua quemque voluptas. 

And dark-blue violets for Thee, unites 
Narcissus and the flower of fragrant dill ; 
With cassia, then, and other pleasing herbs 
She deftly interweaves the whole, and decks 
Soft hyacinths with yellow marigold. 
Ripe, downy apples I myself shall pluck, 
And nuts (the same my Amaryllis loved), 
And waxen prunes (the tree we'll honor too), 
And you, the laurels, and the myrtle last : 
Since thus arranged ye intersperse sweet scents 

Thou art a rustic swain, my Corydon ; 
Alexis wants not gifts, and, if with gifts 
Thou can'st essay, Iollas cannot yield. 
Pooh! pooh! what have I hatched for my poor self? 
Lost that I am, on flowers and clear springs 
I've let the southern blast and boars rush in ! 
Wlv m dost thou loathe? The Trojan Paris, loon, 
And gods as well, have occupied the groves. 
Pallas can guard the bulwarks she has built ; 
The groves, from first to last, are to my taste. 
The surly lioness pursues the wolf; 
The wolf itself, the lamb; the playful lamb. 
Pursues the blooming citysus ; and Thee, 
Ah ! Thee, Alexis, Corydon pursues : 
Instinctive craving magnetizes each. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 121 



NOTES. 

ALEX1M 

ALEX I M : nymphae bring lilia (ALE, 
X I M ) in calathi for Iesous 
Christos, or Alexis : 
LEXIM: Candida naias 

plucks luridae violae, 
summa papavera, 
narcisus, flosculus 

olentis aneti, 
casia, suaves erbae, 
mollia vaccinia, 

luteola caltha — all for 
Iesous Christos, or Alexis : 
EXIM: Vergilius Maro, or Corydon, 
does his own share by pluck- 
ing mala with lanugo there- 
on; nuces (loved by "his 
own Amaryllis," since it 
points Maria straight, from 
right to left) ; cerea pruna 
(also the tree, prunus), lauri, 
myrtus — all 
for Iesous Christos, or Alexis : 
and each of those three combinations 
gives suaves odores. 



His own munera ( E X I M) reminds 
the poet that he is a Cristuus (for 
which rusticus is a strikingly bold and 
onomatopoetic anagram), and that 
every christian, much though he may 
yearn for the Coming in his day, must 
yield to the will of Deus, the Iollas, 
the One Only God (fos SAos), who 
is also immutable ("nee concedat"). 
With a snort of disgust he notices 
the intruders on his own flores 
(EXIM) and liquidi fontes. 
auster and apri, covers for the blight- 
ing and brutal Octavius Caesar Au- 
gustus, have rushed upon them. Whom 
does he loathe? "The gods" found in 
silvae, the dead and living Caesar, for 
divine honors were publicly paid to 
Julius and himself by order of Au- 
gustus — the adulterous Paris of his 
age (as pointed by the poet). Strong 
language this — but whom does he 
fear? While wisdom's cipher exists, 
while Pallas Minerva (the goddess of 
wisdom) guards and cherishes the 
arces (or mystica of the cipher) 
built on her own name, the bard ex- 
ults in a "silvae" that enables him to 
expound the Truth, scoff at the tyrant, 
and lash impiety and vice. 
Here is a climax in diction, and in 
pointing : 
torva lea (ALE) pursues lupus (ALEX) ; 



Cipher Reading. 



TI-LICSC-SI-NI] 
ALI-TI-CS-IM; 



ALLII, C-SI-IVI; 
note 1 



LIIVSIV-SI-NI LEC-SI-NI, 
L-IT-ICSIIVI LLIICS-IM, 
LL-IICSIM LIVVSIVSIIVI (V for A) 
LIIVSCSINI, LIVVSVVIVV 
LITICSINI LEC-SI-NI, 
L-IT-I-VV-IM, L-IT-ICSINI L-IT-ICS-IM 
LEVVIM LIIVSC-SI-NI, 
LICSC-SI-VT LI-VV-SIVS-IM 
LE-VV-IVT LIIVSCSINI, LIIVSXIIVI 
IIVCCCSIIVI ECS-IVV, VIVVVINI 

EC-SI-M, VIVVVINI 
FICSINI 

TI-IC-SI-M 

IT-IC-SI-IVI FIVVINI, 

V-IVC-CCINI FIVV-IM, 

TTVVIM 

ECSIVT IVVS-VV-S-IT-V, l-VV-SC-SI-NI ; 

ALFI-VV-INI VILI-TI-VV-IVV, 

LI-TI-CSINI LLIICS-IM, IIVSC-SI-NI 

LIICSIVT. 

IIVSC-SI-NI 

IVVSVVINI, 

IVVSVVINI 



FI-VV-INI LIIVVINI 



LIICSIVV, 

LIIVVIM ICSCSINI 

l-VV-SCSIIVI, LI-IVV-IM 

IIVSIVSIVV IIV-SI-V-SI-NI IVVSVVSINI 



IT-ICSIIVI 



FIVVIM 
EVVIM 



ICSCSIIVI IVVS-VV-SI-NI 
ECSIIVI l-VV-SCSINI 



IVLIIVS ALE, IVLIFW 



122 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Aspice, aratra jugo referunt suspensa juvenci; 22 

et sol crescentes decedens duplicat umbras : 
me tamen urit amor; quis enim modus adsit amori ! 
Ah, Corydon, Corydon, quae te dementia cepit? 23 

70 semiputata tibi frondosa vitis in ulmo est. 

quin tu aliquid saltern potius, quorum indiget usus, 

viminibus mollique paras detexere junco? 

invenies alium, si te hie fastidit, Alexim. 24 

Mark how the steers are bearing back the ploughs 
A-swinging from the gear; and how the sun 
When low makes creeping shadows twice as long: 
Love fires me still ; what bounds exist for Love ! 
Ah Corydon, ah Corydon, what craze 
Has taken hold of thee ! That vine of yours 
Upon the bushy elm is but half-dressed. 
Why dost thou not, with twigs and bulrush soft, 
Contrive to weave of what our need demands 
A something else (more eligible too) ? 
If this Alexis relishes thee not, 
A different Alexis thou shalt find." 



ECLOGUE V. 

An early commentator (Vives), struck by the peculiar char- 
acter of the verses, ventured to suggest that this eclogue com- 
memorated the Death and Ascension of our Lord under the 
guise of Daphnrs ; but the literati of his day, while unable to 
offer an explanation that would fit the lines, howled him down 
with the sapient remark that "such an opinion redounded more 
to piety than to veracity." 

Scheme: Vergil (under the nom de plume of Menalcas) and 
Maro, his other self (under that of me ipsum or Mopsus), are in- 
troduced to the reader and made to specify the picture word as the 
concluding A M B of the initial verse. This done they proceed 
to sing in turn the Death and Ascension of our Lord. Mopsus 
chooses the former, gracing his discourse with "the Cross" on 
which He suffered, the mission He came to accomplish, and the 
Name He called himself by to Moses. 

Menalcas takes the latter, describes nature's joy at the 
Ascension, divides the picture word into six parts (each of which 
reads "Christ Jesus, God!"), points "Glory! Alleluiah'-" from 
the verbal diagram, and closes with a significant allusion to the 
remembrance under bread and wine which He would give for 
mankind. 

The poem is a remarkable feat in anagrammatical phrasing; 
and no reader (remembering the paucity of material in A M B ) 
can take exception to the poet's self -laudatory "tu nunc eris alter 
ab illo." 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 123 



NOTES. 

ALEXIM 

lupus (ALEX) 

pursues capella (ALEXI); 
asciva capella (ALEXI) 

pursues florens citysus (ALEXIN); 
Vergilius or Corydon I ALEXIN) 

pursues Iesous Christos (ALEXIM) ; 
He resumes the further pointing of 
the Name: 

ALEXI: aspice ! boves bring aratra 
on vectis for Iesous Chris- 
tos, or Alexis : 
ALEXIN: cadens Phoebus makes 

each umbra (EXIN, LE- 
XIN, ALEXIN) longer, 
the first for Iesous Cristos, 
the other two for Iesous 
Christos, 

and all three for Alexis. 
It is a matter of grief to the poet 
that the above E X I N — a vitis on 
dumosa ulmus — is only half-dressed, 
through lack of an "h" for the 
"Christ" name. Why (he asks) not 
take this — 

I L E X I N : it is an aliquid of what his 

need for pointing demands, 

and better too ( "saltern 

potius"), " since from its 

vimina and mollis j uncus 

can be readily dressed 

Iesous Christos, or Alexis. 

This I LEX IN, however, may not 

(through its very disjointedness) be 

relished by the over sensitive lover 

(be he poet or reader) : if so, he has 

but to look on 

ALEX: and there he will find alius 
Alexis, "another Alexis," and 
another Iesous Cristos. 



Cipher Reading. 



ALIVVSC-SI 
ALI-VV-SVVI, 
IVLIFCSIN l-VL-IF-VV-IIV 
note 6 IVL-LIIVVIN 
note 1 



ALECSI; IVLFI-VV-I, ALI-VV-SC-SI, 

IVLITI-VV-I, IVLITI-VV-I TI-LIIVSCSI, 

ALI-VV-SXI 

ALITI-VV-IN TI-LEVVIIV 

FICSIIV, LFI-VV-IIV, l-VL-Fl-VVI-IV 

ITICSIIV IVVS-VV-IIV, 

LECSIN LI-VV-SVV-SI-N, l-VLE-VV-IIV 

TI-LICS-VV-IIV, 

l-VV-SI-V-SI-N, LIC-SI-V-SI-N, ALEXIN 

FI-VV-IN, 

ICSIVSIN L-IIV-VIIV 



ILLII-VV-IIV 



ILE-VV-IN ILL-IIV-V-IIV ILFIVVIN 
ILE-VV-IIV ILI-VV-SCSIIV, ILIIVSXIIV 



ALIF-VV 

ALIIVSCS (VC=X) 
TILECS TILITIVV 



124 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Men. Cur non, Mopse, boni quoniam convenimus ambo, I 
tu calamos inflare leves, ego dicere versus, 
hie corylis mixtas inter consedimus ulmos ? 

Mop. Tu major ; tibi me est aequum parere, Menalca, 2 

5 sive sub incertas zephyris motantibus umbras, 

sive antro potius succedimus : aspice, ut antrum 
silvestris raris sparsit labrusca racemis. 

Men. Montibus in nostris solus tibi certat Amyntas. 3 

Mop. Quid si idem certet Phaebum superare canendo? 4 

10 Men. Incipe, Mopse, prior, siquos aut Phyllidis ignes 5 

aut Alconis habes laudes aut jurgia Codri, 
incipe ; pascentes servabit Tityrus haedos. 

Mop. Immo haec, in viridi nuper quae cortice fagi 
carmina descripsi et modulans alterna notavi, 
15 experiar: tu deinde jubeto ut certet Amyntas. 6 

Men. Lenta salix quantum pallenti cedit olivae, 7 

puniceis humilis quantum saliunca rosetis, 
judicio nostro tantum tibi cedit Amyntas. 
sed tu desine plura, puer; successimus antro. 

Men. Why, Mopsus, since the pair of us have met — 
And you so good to fill the slender reeds, 
And I to spin out thought in numbered lines — 
Why have we not in conclave settled down 
Here amidst elms with filberds intermixed? 

Mop. Thou art the greater : right, Menalcas, 'tis 

That I should follow thee or 'neath the shade 
Which flickers with the rustling winds, or should 
We rather seek the cave. See how the cave 
Is with rare clusters by the woodbine decked. 

Men. Amyntas only in our ranges wide 
Is match for thee. 

Mop. What if the same should try 

In song to master Him who is the light? 

Men. Be thou the first, my Mopsus, to begin. 

Whate'er you have to give us — Phyllis' loves, 
Alcon's renown, or Codrus' strifes — begin: 
Our Tityrus will mind the grazing goats. 

Mop. Yea, those I'll try, some verses which of late 
I carved upon a beech tree's limber bark, 
And metrically marked them one by one: 
Then tell me that Amyntas this can match. 

Men. What pliant willow yields to olive pale, 
And humble spikenard unto roses red, 
So much, methinks, Amyntas yields to thee. 
No more, my boy ; we are within the cave. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 125 



NOTES. 

AMBO 

Maro (A MB) and Vergilius (IMBO) 
meet in the ulmi (A M B ) mixed with 
coryli (IMBO). 

"Maro" fills calami ; "Vergilius" sounds 
versus. 

Maro remarks how the Vergilius com- 
bination is greater (in the number of 
letters) than his own; how "Maro" 
properly follows "Vergilius" (since the 
latter name was the "major" or older 
of the two, and the poet was called 
Vergilius Maro, not Maro Vergilius) ; 
how he follows him at present in the 
dubiae umbrae (IMBO) moved by 
zepyri ; and how he will still follow 
if they go to the antrum (AMBO) 
which points Vergilius. 
aspice : antrum silvanus 

raris sparsit 

labrusca racemis (AMBO). 
Vergilius, delighted with the anagram 
of his alter ego, places him on a level 
with himself. In those montes (AM- 
BO), he says, Amyntas vies with Maro. 
A contest is proposed between the poet 
and his double, and the context tells 
the theme. 

The theme is suggested in a succession 
of nice allegories. According to my- 
thology, Phyllis died of grief while 
waiting for her loved one's coming; 
Alcon, without wounding his son, killed 
a huge serpent that had coiled itself 
around the boy; and Codrus, to save 
his country, sought a voluntary death 
in the enemy's camp, which he entered 
alone and in disguise. Those strong- 
smelling flights will be rightly minded by 
the christian Tityrus, if he says with 
Menalcas — begin, if you have aught to 
say about our grief over the long-con- 
tinued absence of Him we love, and 
will love to the death; begin, if your 
theme be He who will crush the ser- 
pent's head, and save man — the child He 
loved; begin, if your tale has reference 
to the King of kings, who will volun- 
tarily give up his life to save the world 
— the world which He will enter alone 
in the disguise of humanity. 
When Maro finishes his song, let 
Amyntas (or Vergilius) proceed to 
match it. 

The two contestants are one in AM BO, 
(note 3) : they are also one in IMBO, 
which contains Vergilius (note 1) and 
Maro. This is specified by saying that 



Cipher Reading. 



AV-VP-O, I1VIICCICC-CC; 
l-TV-VB, 

IVV-ICICO (IVV=R) 
AMICCO (0=A); 
IIVIICIC-CC 



IT-VDICO IMICICCO 

INIPCO 

ANIICC-CC 

AVVICCIC-CC 

ANIPCO: ANIICC-CC ANIICICC-CC 

AV-VD-ICO (VD=R) ATVDIC-CC 

AVVICCICO AVVDI-CC-O 



ANII-CC-DO 
ANII-CC-I-CC-O, AV-VB-0 



IIVI-PC-0 



126 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

20 Mop. Extinctum nymphae crudeli funere Daphnim 8 

flebant (vos coryli testes et flumina nymphis), 
cum complexa sui corpus miserabile nati 9 

atque deos atque astra vocat crudelia mater. 
Non ulli pastos illis egere diebus 10 

25 frigida, Daphni, boves ad flumina; nulla neque 

amnem 
libavit quadrupes, nee graminis attigit herbam: 
Daphni, tuum Paenos etiam ingemuisse leonea 
interitum montesque feri silvaeque loquuntur. 
Daphnis et Armenias currn subjungere tigres 11 

30 instituit, Daphnis thiasos inducere Bacchi, 

et foliis lentas intexere mollibus hastas. 
Vitis ut arboribus decori est, ut vitibus uvae, 12 

ut gregibus tauri, segetes ut pinguibus arvis, 
tu decus omne tuis. Postquam te fata tulerunt, 13 

35 ipsa Pales agros atque ipse reliquit Apollo. 

Mop. For Daphnis, by a cruel death cut off 

(Nymphs, hazels, rivers, ye all testify), 

For Daphnis were the maids dissolved in tears 

When her son's piteous corpse His mother clasps 

And calls the gods and upper lights unkind. 

In those times, Daphnis, none there were to lead 

The fatted cattle to the rivers cool ; 

No beast drank water, none the herbage touched ; 

And mountains wild and forests, Daphnis, tell 

How even Afric lions moaned thy death. 

To yoke Armenian tigers to the car, 

To kindle freedom's rites, and idle spears 

To wrap with peaceful leaves, did Daphnis teach. 

As is the vine a glory unto trees, 

As grapes to vines, as bulls are to the herds, 

As ripened crops are to the fertile fields, 

So Thou wert all of glory to thine own. 

And when the fates removed thee, Pales' self 

Forsook our plains, Apollo's self likewise. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 127 



NOTES. 

there is no more difference between the 
two than there is between the pallida 
oliva and lenta salix ( IMBO ), or be- 
tween the humilis saliunca and punicea 
roseta (AM BO ). 

8. Maro sings the Death of Daphnis — 
the Daphnis (AM BO) who in this pic- 
ture (as in that of Eclogue II) points 
and signifies Iesous Cristos. 

AMBO 
nympae flebant (Daphnim) 

Iesum Cristum; 
and the trabs on which He suffered is 
testified by the "nymphs" combination 
(AMBO), by flumina (AMB) and by 
coryli (IMBO). 

9. fovens nati-sui cadaver, 

deos (Iudaeos), astra (principes) 

vocat crudelia (crudeles) 
mater (Maria). 

10. nequi pastos egere diebus, (Daphni) 

Iesou, boves f rigida flumina : 
nullus quadrupes amnem libavit 

neque graminis attigit herbam : 

vestrum Paenos etiam gemuisse leones 

interitum montes feri, 

silvae ferunt. 

11. Surias currui jungere tigres statuit, 

thiasos inducere Bacchi, 

foliis lentas integere mollibus hastas. 

Bacchus or Liber is the god of free- 
dom. 

The above lines outline Christ's mis- 
sion: 

"There shall be one fold, and one shep- 
herd." John X. 16. 
"You shall know the truth, and the 
truth shall make you free." John 
VIII. 32. 

"He will speak peace unto his people." 
Ps. LXXXIV. 9. 

12. ut-est vinea decori arboribus, 

ut-est uvae decori vineis, 

ut-est tauri decori gregibus, 

ut-est segetes decori pinguibus arvis, 

eras decus universum 



Cipher Reading. 

IIVIICCDO 

IM-ICCO; INI-DI-CO l-VV-ICI-CO 

TI-MICIC-CC AN1ICCICO; VINIICICO 

ANIIO-CIC-O 

TI-NIIOIC-CC 

AMICDO TIVVDDO 



ANI-ICI-CO ANIICCC-O (TI-NIIOIC-CC) 
AMI-CC-0 TIMICICO; 



ATVP-CO; VINIICCI-CC (flumina) 

ATV-1CI-C; ITVICI-CO. 

ANIICCO ANID— IC-CC AVVICIOO, 

AT-VB-O (ATVICDO), ATV-PC-O 

(ANIICCCCO) 

ATVBO AIVIICCCO (AMICCICCO) 

ATV-PC-0 (AMI-CD-O) CD=R 

ANIBO ATVDDO AIVII-CD-O AMDICO, 

VIN-ID-DO 

ANIBO, ATVBO TIVVI-CD-0 ANIPCC-CC 

VINIPCO ATVICCICCO ANIICIC-CC 

VIMICCO 

VIN-ID-DO TINI-ICI-CCO AIVIDD-CC 

TI-M-DI-CCO: 

ATVICIC-CC ANIICOO TI-MI-CC-0 

ANIICCI-CC-0 ANIICOO 

TINIICCI-CC-0 ANII-CC-DO AI-VI-B-O 

(VIO=R) 

ANIPCO ANIICCO 

AMICDO VIVVBO VINIICICO 

TIVV-DI-CO TITVDDO, 

TI-NIIOIO-CC ANIICCICO TI-MI-CICO 

(0=V or B), 

VINIBO ANIICDO ANIIOICCO 

VIMICCICO TI-NIIOO-CC 



AMD— DO ANIBO T-IM-ICCO 

AVVICCDCC, 

V-IM-BO " TIN I BO 

AMI-CD-O " AVVICDCC 

ATVIOI-CC-O " TINIPCCCC 

l-TV-VBO 

A-M1-CD-CC AT-VP-CO ANIICCICC-CC 



128 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Grandia saepe quibus mandavimus hordea sulcis 14 

inf elix lolium et steriles nascuntur avenae ; 
pro molli viola, pro purpureo narcisso, 
carduus et spinis surgit paliurus acutis. 

40 Spargite humum foliis, inducite fontibus umbras, 15 

pastores ; mandat fieri sibi talia Daphnis ; 16 

et tumulum facite, et tumulo super addite carmen: 17 
"Daphnis, ego, in silvis hinc usque ad sidera notus, 18 
formonsi pecoris custos, formonsior ipse." 

45 Men. Tale tuum nobis carmen, divine poeta, 

quale sopor fessis in gramine, quale per aestum 
dulcis aquae saliente sitim restinguere rivo. 
nee calamis solum aequiparas, sed voce magistrum ; 19 
fortunate puer, tu nunc eris alter ab illo. 

50 Nos tamen haec quocumque modo tibi nostra vicissim 

dicemus, Daphnimque tuum tollemus ad astra ; 
Daphnin ad astra feremus; amavit nos quoque 
Daphnis. 
Mop. An quicquam nobis tali sit munere majus? 20 

In ridges, where great crops we've planted oft, 
Grow wretched cockle and unfruitful oats; 
Thistle and thorny brier spring in place 
Of velvet violet and purple dill. 
O guardians all, with leaflets strew the land ; 
Conduct the unenlightened to the springs 
(Daphnis commands that such be done for him) ; 
And raise a mound, and on the mound this verse : 
"Daphnis ; the I WHO AM; known in those wilds. 
And from those wilds far as the stars on high : 
Known as the Master of a gracious flock ; 
Known as possessor of all grace Himself." 

Men. O bard divine ! to us thy song is such 
As to the tired is slumber on the grass ; 
As 'tis from purling brook of water sweet 
To slake consuming thirst in summer time. 
And not alone in style but speech as well 
Up to the master's standard thou dost come: 
Blessed youth, thou wilt be now his other self. 
Those lines of ours, howe'er, such as they are, 
Shall we in turn recite for thee, and raise 
Thy Daphnis to the stars — yea, to the stars 
We'll Daphnis raise, for Daphnis loved us too. 

Mop. Than such reward what greater could we have? 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 129 



NOTES. 
AMBO 

vestris (Iudaeis). 
"The glory of his people, Israel." Luke 
II. 32. 

13. Postquam teipsum fata tulerunt, 

Pales agros atque reliquit Apollo. 

In mythology Pales is the guardian of 
shepherds and their flocks, and Apollo 
represents the distributing influences 
of light, heat and sound. "When the 
Good Shepherd was taken away," says 
Mopsus, "the care, light, warmth and 
speech that animated the fold and 
guardians were also taken away." One 
of those guardians (Mark XVI. 10-14) 
corroborates the poet's prophecy, and 
tells how gloom, doubt and the silence 
of timidity prevailed. 

14. grandia saepe quibus locavimus 

hordea sulcis infelix lolium, 

atque steriles oriuntur avenae : 

molli vaccinio, purpureo narcisso, 

carduus atque spinis 

surgit paliurus acutis. 

15. Spargite humum foliis, 

inducite fontibus umbras, pastores. 

16. "How great things he commanded our 
fathers, that they should make the 
same known to their children, that an- 
other generation might know them." 
Ps. LXXVII. 5, 6. 

17. tumulum facite atque tumulo 

super addite carmen : 

18. Iesous Cristos : ego-sum : 

silvis, sideribus notus; 

formosi pecoris custos; 

formosior ipse. 
"God said to Moses: I AM WHO AM 
. . . This is my name for ever, and 
this is my memorial unto all genera- 
tions." Exod. III. 14, 15. 

19. In anagrammatical wording and ex- 
pressive diction he comes up to the 
standard of Homer, "the master" of 
all poets : "and now," says Menalcas, 
"thou wilt be an alter Homerus" (as 
he is in the picture). 

20. Who so worthy of song as the Son? 
Who could enter heaven until the Son 
ascended first? And the hemistich 



Cipher Reading. 
ATVDIC-CC (ANIICDO) 



AMICCICC-CC ATVICD-CC AMBO 

VINIICCICO 

ATVBO AVV-PC-O ATVBO TIVVICCO, 

AVVPCO 



ANIICICO AMPOO TIVVBO 

ATVICCCC-CC 

TI-IVIIODO TIVV-PC-O ANIICC-CC 

VIMPCO, 

ATVBO ANIICCI-CC-0 VINIICCCO 

ANIICIOO: 

VIMBO ANIICCCO VIVVICCICO 

ANIICCI-CC-O, 

AVVDDCC ATVBO TINIP-CO 

TIVVP-CO AVVICDCC AVVDI-CO 

ATVICC-CC-O TI-M-ICI-CO VINIBO, 

TINIICICO TINIICCCO AMICICO, 

ATVICCI-CC-O. 



VIMICCC-CC V-IM-ICDO ATVBO 

VIMICCO 

AMPCO T-IM-DI-CC-O ANIICIC-CC: 

note 8: AW— ICI-C-CC: 

TINIBO TITVIODCC VINI-PC-O; 

TIMPCCO ATVICCO TIMICCO; 

VIVVI-CC-ICCO ll-IM-PC-O (IIO=IP) 



ATVBO TI-VVI-CC-IOO. 



130 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

et puer ipse fuit cantari dignus ; et ista 

55 jam pridem Stimichon laudavit carmina nobis. 

Men. Candidus insuetum miratur limen Olympi, 21 

sub pedibusque videt nubes et sidera Daphnis. 
Ergo alacris silvas et cetera rura voluptas 
Panaque pastoresque tenet dryadasque puellas. 

60 Nee lupus insidias pecori nee retia cervis 22 

ulla dolum meditantur ; amat bonus otia Daphnis. 
Ipsi laetitia voces ad sidera jactant 23 

intonsi montes, ipsae jam carmina rupes, 
ipsa sonant arbusta, "Deus, Deus ille," Menalca. 

65 Sis bonus o felixque tuis. En quatuor aras; 24 

ecce duas tibi, Daphni, duas altaria Phaebo. 
Pocula bina novo spumantia lacte quotannis 25 

craterasque duo statuam tibi pinguis olivi: 
et multo in primis hilarans convivia Baccho, 

jo ante focum si frigus erit, si messis in umbra, 

vina novum fundam calathis Ariusia nectar. 

The Son, and none but He, has worthy been 
To be thus praised in song; and Stimichon 
Just now has cried those verses up to us. 
Men. Daphnis in robe of white beholds with joy 
The wondrous portal of his home on high, 
And sees beneath his feet the clouds, the stars. 
Then forests, rural scenes, all nature's self, 
Guardians, and maids whose lives were bound in Him, 
Are spell-bound with delight electric held. 
No wiles against the fold the wolf designs; 
No nets are aiming for the deer a snare ; 
The gracious Daphnis eager is for peace. 
The mounts, the rugged mounts lift up with joy 
Their voices to the stars ; and now the hills, 
And now the clustered shrubs, Menalcas, chant 
The tuneful chorus, "God! the One true God!" 
Be kind and, oh ! be gracious to thine own. 
Four shrines behold ! Lo, Daphnis, two for thee ; 
For thee, light's source, two more — and altars those. 
Two pitchers foaming with fresh milk, two bowls 
Of luscious oil, I'll offer Thee each year; 
And, first enlivening with much wine those feasts 
(In front of Vesta's hearth if chill it be, 
Within the shade if harvest time), Til pour 
From jars new nectar, Ariusian draughts. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 131 



NOTES. 

AMBO 

("Daphnin ad astra feremus") has al- 
ready marked the coming song as "the 
Ascension." 

[Stimichon, a corruption of hemisti- 
chium.] 
candidus insuetum miratur 

limen Olympi, 
pessum aspicit nubes 

atque sidera Iesous Cristos : 
alacris voluptas tenet silvas, 

cetera rura, Pana, 

pastores, dryadas puellas. 
"Whilst he blessed them, he departed 
from them, and was carried up into 
heaven. And they adoring went back 
Luke 



were 
cen- 



into Jerusalem with great joy. 
XXIV. si, 52. 

[The Dryads, in mythology, 
nymphs whose existence was 
tred in the tree to which they 
attached.] 
22. neque lupus insidias 

pecori, neque retia cervis 



ulla dolum putant : 
amat bonus pacem Iesous Cristos. 

23. laetitia voces sidera jactant asperi 
montes ; 

carmina rupes, vocant 

arbusta Deus verus. 

"The mountains and the hills shall sing 
praise before you, and all the trees of 
the country shall clap their hands." 
Isa. LV. 12. 

24. The picture is now subdivided for the 
Name. 

aspice quatuor aras : 

AM P — Each of the first two is an ara 

(A=MI=C, IM=DI=C); 
I M B — Each of the second two is altare 

(IIVIICIOO, TI=VIICOO). 
IMBO — The first pair (embraced in 

AM B) points 
TMBO— Dapnis (ANIICI-CC); the 
second pair (embraced in TMBO) 
points Paebus (TVVPOO). Each 
of the four is devoted to Iesous 
Cristos, Deus. (See margin). 

25. Further subdivisions for the Name are 
A M B — bina pocula recenti spumosa 

lacte are offered to 

Iesous Cristos, Deus. 



Cipher Reading. 



TINIIODCC ANIICCI-CC-CC ATVICC-CC 
ANI-PC-0(0=V or L) ll-IMICC-0 (IIO=P) 
AMICIC-CC TINIPCO VINIBO 
ATVBO ATVI-CC-O, note 8: 
AIVIICCI-CO AMICCICCO AN-ID-D-CC 
TIVV-DI-CO, 

AVT-DI-CO AVVDDO (VD,VD=R,R) 
IIIN-ID-DO (IIO=P), 

note 15, AIVIIOD-CC AVVICICO. 



VINIDDO (ID,ID=E,E) ITVVBO (IO=P) 

TINIDIO-CC 

VIVVBO, VINIDDO AMI-CD-0 (CD=R) 

AVVIC-CO 

V-IM-BO VIMICCO (VII=M) ANIICDO: 

AM-DI-CO VINIBO AMPCO, note 8, 

TITVIOOO ATVBO, note 21, TINIIOCO 

ANIPCO, note 3: 

ANI-ICI-CCO ATVBO, ANIICCO 

ATVICICO T-IM-P-CO T-IM-P-CO 



ANIPCO AVVICICO AV-VB-O: 
TIVVIOI TITVICCI, AMICI 

IVVIOI-CC ITVICCI-CC, IIVIDD 

IMICIOO INIICCDO, IM-DDO 

TMICOO TNIICICO, TMBO 



ANIB AVVPCC ANIICCIO ATVICCI-CC 

ATV-DI-C : 

ANIICIO TIIVIICIC, ATV-PC. 



i 3 2 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Cantabunt mihi Damoetas et Lyctius Aegon ; 26 

saltantes saturos imitabitur Alphesiboeus : 27 

haec tibi semper erunt et cum sollemnia vota 28 

75 reddemus nymphis, et cum lustrabimus agros. 

Dum juga montis aper, fluvios dum piscis amabit, 29 
dumque thymo pascentur apes, dum rore cicadae, 
semper honos nomenque tuum laudesque manebunt. 
Ut Baccho Cererique, tibi sic vota quotannis 30 

80 agricolae facient ; damnabis tu quoque votis. 

Mop. Quae tibi, quae tali reddam pro carmine dona? 
nam neque me tantum venientis sibilus austri, 
nee percussa juvant fluctu tarn litora, nee quae 
saxosas inter decurrunt flumina valles. 

85 Men. Hac te nos fragili donabimus ante cicuta: 31 

haec nos "Formonsum Corydon ardebat Alexim," 

haec eadem docuit "Cujum pecus? an Meliboei?" 

Mop. At tu sume pedum, quod, me cum saepe rogaret, 32 

non tulit Antigenes (et erat tunc dignus amari), 

90 formonsum paribus nodis atque aere, Menalca. 

Damoetus, Lyctian Aegon too, will chant 

For me; and satyrs, gamboling with joy, 

Alphesiboeus will close imitate : 

Those ever will be thine when solemn vows 

We'll pay with nymphs, or country ways we'll walk. 

While boar will love the hill-tops ; fish, the streams ; 

While bees will suck the thyme ; the crickets, dew ; 

Thy glory, name and praise will last for aye. 

Yes, unto Thee, as both our bread and wine, 

Will tillers of the soil make yearly vows; 

And by those vows wilt Thou adjudge them too. 

Mop. For such a hymn what can I, can I give? 
Nor sobbing of the south wind passing by, 
Nor shores resounding with the surging tide, 
Nor rivers purling 'mongst the rocky vales, 
Can stir like this the pulses of my heart. 

Men. We'll first present thee with this slender reed: 
It taught us "Corydon Alexis loved." 
And "whose flock? Meliboeus', is it not?" 

Mop. Take thou this rood adorned with equal knots 
And brass, Menalcas, which Antigenes 
(While worthy at the same time to be loved) 
Has not obtained, though oft he questioned me. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 133 



NOTES. 
AMBO 
MBO — duo cratres pinguis olivi are 
also offered to Iesous Cristos, 
Deus. 

What follows can be applied to 
either of the foregoing pictures : 



MBO 
AMB 



MBO 
AMB 



atque multo imprimis ilarans 



convivia Baccho, 

ante f ocum f rigore (MBO) 
umbra messe (AMB) 

vina novum fundam 

calatis Ariusia nectar 



26. canet Damoitus (AMBO), canet Lyc- 
tius Aegon (A M Bj; 

and what each sings is Gloria ! 

27. laetos saturos imitabitur Laconius 
(AMBO ) ; and the chorus that re- 
sounds is Alleluia ! 

' A\<pecripoias( 'A\0«6s Botat) "those dwelling 
in Boiae on the Alpheus" (the former 
being a city, and the latter a river in 
Laconia), a descriptive term for "La- 
cedemonians." Homer (II. xviii-593) 
uses the word in the same sense to 
express the same Alleluiah ! 

28. In conclave with pious women, or in 
the solitude of the country, his con- 
stant prayer will be "Glory ! Alleluia !" 

29. quoad montes aper amabit 
quoad fluvios piscis amabit 
quoad thymo apes pascent 

quoad rore cicadae pascent 

In the same AMBO that permits those, 
abide "Glory !" "the Name" and "Alle- 
luiah !" 

30. "He hath made a remembrance of his 
wonderful works, being a merciful and 
gracious Lord; he hath given food to 
them that fear him." Ps. CV. 4, 5. 

31. Vergilius gives a fragilis cicuta (AM- 
BO) that taught f ormosum Corydon 
ardebat Alexim, and 

cujum pecus? utrum Meliboei? 

32. His other self gives in return a 
pedum f ormosum (or symbola for- 
mosa) 

paribus nodulis atque aere. 
This "symbol"— the trabecla or "small 
cross" (made, like those of to-day, of 
wood and brass) — could not be ob- 
tained by any one outside the Christian 
cult (avrt yivos), no matter how 
friendly or lovable he or she might be 
in other respects. 



Cipher Reading. 

MBO TVICCIOO NIICCC-CC IVIBO 
NIICIOO TVICCD-CC, TV-PC-O 



IVIICDO MICICO NIICCICC-CC 
NIIOICCO 

AIVIICD l-TV-VICO TINIICC-CC 
ANIIOICC 
j NIICCCCO IVIICCOO 
|aniicccc AIVIICCO 
N-ID-DO VV-ICI-CO IVIICCICO 
AMPCO ANIICCICC 
( NIBO N-IIC-CCO NIICC-CC-O 
{ANIB VINIPCC (VH=M) ANIICC-CC 
j NIICCIOO TVICIOO NIIOCCO 
{aniiccio ATVICIO ANIIOCC 
ANIICI-CO TITVIOI-CC-O; ANIIOC 
TIVVICD ANIICIO; 
AVVI-CD-O (CD=R); AVVICO. 
ATV-ICI-CO ATVI-CC-ICO 
TITVICCI-CC-0 ANIICCICO; 
AVVIOCCO. 



ATVBO ANII-CC-DO V-IM-BO AMDICOj 

ATVBO ITVVPCO l-TV-VIC-CC; 

ATVBO TI-MI-CC-0 AMBO 

ANIICC-CC-O; 

ATVBO AVVDDO (DV, DV= RR) 

AVVIODO 



AVVICIC-CC TIVVBO 
l-TV-VI-CC-CCCC VINIICCO 
ATVIOICO AMICO-CC. 
VIMBO ATVBO; VIMI-CD-0 AMIOICCO 

VIMDDO, note 31; (AVVIO-CC-CC 

AMICCIOO), 

AVVICDO TINIICCO ATVBO A-MI-CD-O 

AVVICCIOO. 



i 3 4 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

We close this chapter with the invocation of Aratns ; and the 
reader will see for himself that Paul, when speaking in the 
Areopagus, did not quote a pagan astronomer but a Christian 
preacher. 

'Ex Aib? ap^a>^.ea0a* xbv ouBeitox' avBpeq Iwjjlsv i 

gcqqyjtov. jJLsaxat he Atbq xaaat \ikv dyucac, 2 

xaaat 8' dvOptoxwv dyopat, (jlscjtt) 81 OaXaaua 
xac Xijjilve<;* tcccvty) 8e Aibq xe^piqjJieGa xdvTeq, 
toO yap xac yevoq eaixev. 

From Life do we begin: men such as we 
Ne'er let Him pass unnamed. Our roads, our marts, 
The sea, the creeks — all those are full of Life; 
And everywhere we all have Life proclaimed, 
For we his creatures are. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 135 



NOTES. 

He begins from EK A 1 02! and proceeds 
to name Him who is "the Life." 
naa-ai dyvtal (EKAIO) are filled with 

' Irjffovs Xpi<rr6s ; 
wdo-ai ay opal ( EKAIO I ) are filled with 

* Ir/crods Xp«rr6s ; 
6a\ao-<ra and \ifi4ves ( EKAIOI ) are filled 
with ' IrjaoOs XpLffrSs ; 
dvdpes ( EKAION ) themselves proclaim 

" IijctoOi X/hot6s; 
and are ytvos " in Aids". 



Cipher Reading. 



EIA-IAI-0 TI-IIA-AI-O; 
TI-IVAAIIO IKZIAAIO. 
n-IIA-AI-OI EIAAIIOI; 
EIAAIOI TirVAAIOI. 
IIAZIA-AI-OTA, EVAIAIONI 
E-IAI-AIOZ riTKAIIOZ. 
EIAAION; 

E-IAI-AION riTKAIION. 
EK-IAI-ON. 



136 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



CHAPTER VIII. 

UTTERING THE WORDS OF POWER. 

How names, and especially the seven names so intimately 
bound up with the Promise and the Promised One, could be con- 
cealed and still kept prominently before the eye and ear, has been 
explained and illustrated in the preceding chapter. A careful 
perusal of the examples given in it shows how easy it was for one 
class of readers, biased by Pagan ideas and false intent, to inter- 
pret the poets after a fashion of its own; and for another class, 
trained in religious truth and watchful of the hidden names, to 
construe them in quite a different manner. 

The same painstaking and ingenious diction, the same de- 
ceitful pauses and choice of words, and especially the same inner 
application of certain terms, that enabled the poets to defy the 
veto as regards the Name, enabled them to defy it in dwelling 
upon and invoking the Almighty, in mapping out the principal 
incidents connected with the coming, life, and death of our Lord, 
and in giving us incidentally an insight into the deep piety with 
which they were inspired, the difficulties and dangers under which 
they wrote, and the artificial language which they were com- 
pelled to have recourse to. 

The second chapter of this work closed with the remark that 
an ultra proof of Paganism on the part of the poets is furnished 
by an invocation of Aratus addressed to Zeus. There are many 
other similar invocations — some to Zeus, some to Apollo — besides 
this of Aratus: they are found in Homer, Hesiod, the Tra- 
gedians, the Latin epics; and while one and all breathe admit- 
tedly of the sublime and pure, they are addressed to those deities, 
and thus furnish (it is said) a basis for belief in the pantheistic 
tendencies of the writers. The weight and worth of such a saying 
must be measured in the scales of intent ; and the balance so long 
used by say-mongers for testing the poets has been found so far 
to be wondrously defective and out of order. It would be well, 
then, to change our scales : to do so, we have only to change "the 
intent" — and in doing this, we will have done much. Is it abso- 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 137 

lutely necessary, in professing our Maker, to say Oso^ or Deus, 
or God? Is "my unfailing hope" idolatrous? Is "Spirit! whose 
life-sustaining presence fills" pantheistic? Is "the great Physician" 
pagan? But — we know to whom they apply. Just so; and so 
did Aratus and Homer and all others know to whom was ap- 
plicable such a term as Zeus and Apollo. 

Let us review a portion of what has already been written. It 
was pointed out how the nations of old, tiring of the truth, de- 
manded Gods from their priests — how the priests, yielding to the 
cry, gave them for deities the philosophical abstractions and scien- 
tific entities that had been culled from what was originally written 
in "The Science of religion" — how from this innocent nomencla- 
ture there emanated a Pagan worship (gross and sensual in some 
cases, refined and mild in others) that had, as a rule, two prin- 
cipal deities, symbolical of "life" and "light" — how, in the Greek 
worship, those two were respectively called Zeus and Apollo — 
and how, though the deistic notion regarding those overshadowed 
the symbolical one in the minds of the unlettered vulgar, the re- 
verse was true in the case of the educated sceptics. To these last 
Zeus was only "life" ; a mode of being, varied in aspect and 
limited in existence; a something worth desiring, contemning, 
or getting rid of, as the case might be : 

"A hopeful, a joyful, a sorrowful stave, 
A launch, a voyage, a whelming wave, 
The cradle, the bridal-bed, and the grave." 

The best-living among those doubters felt satisfied with the 
idea that a good life on earth ought insure them an Elysium (if 
such there really was), and would make no difference here or 
hereafter, if nihility was the end of all. 

To the true believer, however, Zeus was a more serious 
affair, a something besides the mere being, doing, dying of vital- 
ized matter on this world's stage. It was more than these — it 
was that which was "hid with Christ," and "bound in the bundle 
of life" with God — that which, with its hopes and joys and sor- 
rows, each individual should cheerfully submit to and carry to the 
end, if he wished to abide in that repository and be bound for 
ever in that bundle — and, finally, Zeus was to them the One who, 
in the words of Moses, "is thy life," and who ratified the same by 
declaring "I am the resurrection and the life." 

The poets had thus a choice of meanings when they men- 
tioned Zeus, seeing that the word could stand for 



138 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

i. The head of the pagan Pantheon. 

2. Vitality, and its various manifestations. 

3. The past, present, and future of transitory being. 

4. Social position. 

5. Man, singly, collectively, and in the abstract. 

6. Eternal happiness. 

7. God — "the Life." 

The first of those was current among the vulgar, and so, ac- 
cording to its understanding, was the sixth : those two and the 
intervening senses were understood by the educated profane : but 
the seventh was the peculiar and secret possession of the true 
believer ; and the poets' readers were never at a loss to understand 
from the context when and where Zeus meant "life" or "the Life." 

As with Zeus, so was it with Apollo, since it represented 

1. A Pagan god, ranking next to Zeus. 

2. Physical light. 

3. Daytime. 

4. Direct vision, or open view. 

5. One conspicuous for knowledge — "a light." 

6. Enlightenment. 

7. God— "the Light." 

Through those esoteric meanings — "the Life, the Light" — 
attached to Zeus and Apollo, not only was the pure "Science of 
religion" avenged for the desecration of its nomenclature, but 
Paganism itself, sapped thus at the very roots, was made slavishly 
subservient to the truth. Shielded by those names, the poet could 
write much that otherwise he could not, and freely — who of 
tyrants would dare to say that Zeus and Apollo were interdict ! — 
since the nice distinction was a thing unknown to the profane. 
Shielded by those we find throughout the classics many of the 
most exalted aspirations to the Godhead,, and embellished with 
the distinctive epithets and infinite attributes attached to Deity 
alone. 

Where, for instance, is there a parallel in any language for 
brevity and sublimity to line 412, Iliad II.? In one single verse, 
the grandest possibly ever written, does the poet hymn the 
glory, power, majesty, and effulgence of the Supreme Being; 
and the first three words are so onomatopoetically constructed as 
to make the "Jesu Criste!" sensitive to and swell upon the ear: 



IN HOME-R, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 139 

Zeii xuScaxe, ^eycaxe, xeXaive<pe<;, ca0epi vatwv 

O Life, in glory clad, omnipotent, 

Throned in the clouds, and dwelling in the light! 



Here is a passage from Aeschylus, in which the providence, 
justice and consoling strength of the Most High are embodied: 

Tbv 6^66sv crxoxbv lxicrx,6xet, 
<j>uXocxa xoAuxovcov 
@poxa)v, 01 xolq %£~kaq xpocn^evoi 
Stxa? ou xuyxavouaiv svvdjxou. 
Mevei xoi Zirjvbq ixtiou xotoq 
SuaxapaGeXx.xcx; xaBovToq o'lXTOt?. 

Suppl. 381 

Look to the Providence that is on high, 
Protector of those heavy-laden men 
Who, neighbors near unto their fellows, find 
The scales of equity not balanced fair. 
Upon the sufferer's groans, rest sure, awaits 
The bitter wrath of Life, the Paraclete. 



Euripides invokes the majesty, omnipotence, and inscrutable 
nature of his God — bows down in fervent prayer — and concludes 
with a paraphrase of the Psalmist. "And the heavens shall de- 
clare his righteousness ; for God is judge himself." 

r Q yfjq b'yjj^a xdxi yfjq ey/ov e'Spocv, 
ogtk; xox' el <ru, Suaxoxaaxcx; eiSlvat, 
Zeuq, s'it' avayx.Y] <puaso<; s't'xe vouq ^poxaiv, 
icpoaeu^a^Tjv ae - xavxa yap Si' otyoipou 
@ai'vo)v xeXsuOou xaxa Si'xyjv to: 6vtqx' ayetq. 

Troad. 884. 

O Life! earth's prop! whose footstool's on this globe! 

Inscrutable where'er, whoe'er Thou art ! 

Be Thou the primal must of all that is, 

Be Thou the wisdom of what's made to live , 

In fervent prayer have I Thee besought : 

For through mysterious way of thine is brought 

To strict account each mortal deed and thought. 



i 4 o THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

"Who may stand in thy sight, when once thou art angry?" is 
asked in Psalm LXXVI. 7. Sophocles puts the same question, 
dwells upon the power, providence, eternity and glory of the 
Lord ; and concludes with a paraphrase of Prov. XXIV. 16. 
"For a just man shall fall seven times." 

Teav, Zed, Buvaatv iiq avBpwv uxep^aaca xaTacxot, 

-rav ou0' uxvoq atpet xo0' 6 xavTayqpcoq 

out' axajxaTOt 0ecov 

{jlyjvsi;; ayiqpw Be XP^V BuvaaTaq 

xaTe}(et<; 'OXujjlxou 

[xxpfjiapdsjcav acyXav, 

to t' exetTa xa! to ^eXXov 

xa! to xptv. exapxlaet 

v6[jios o§\ ouoev epxet 

GvaTwv ^toTw xa^xoXu y' Ixto<; ata?. 

Antig. 605. 

O Life! whoso of men can stand in pride 
Against thy might, which sleep, enfeebling sleep 
Ne'er seizes, nor the tireless months of gods? 
But Thou, for ever and for ever Lord, 
Thou the I Am, the Will Be, and the Was, 
Hast heaven's effulgent light within thy hands. 
And this commandment ever will hold good : 
"Within the life of things that breathe there's nought, 
Howe'er so great, that moves quite free from sin." 



Deuteronomy (V. 9) pictures the God of all judgment : "I 
am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the 
fathers upon their children unto the third and fourth generation 
of them that hate me." 

Solon, in part of his' VxoO-fjxai, is equally graphic and concise : 

Touuty) Zrjvbq xeXsTat Ttaiq* ouB' Itp' IxaaTO) 

coaxep 0vy)to<; avr)p ytyvsToct o^u/oXo? - 
ate! 8' outc \k\rfiz Btafj.xepe<;, oaTtq ccAiTpbv 

6ufj.bv eyr}' xavTwq B' iq ifkoq e^eaavY). 
'AXX' 6 |xlv auTt'x' CTtJev, 6 B' uarepov et Be (puytoatv 

auTo! [i-qoh 0ewv ^.otp' Ixiouaa xfyfl, 
YjXu0e xavTW? a50tq. dvatTta epya Ttvouatv 

•f) xaTBe<; toutwv y) yevo<; i^oxtaw. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 141 

In this way or in that Life's judgment moves. 
He comes on each, though not with hasty wrath 
Like mortal man ; never for good and aye 
Has He forgot the wicked-minded one, 
But in the end at least displays himself. 
He has dealt punishment forthwith as well, 
And dealt it later on; and should the chiefs 
Escape, and should the gods' impending doom 
Not light upon their heads, then Life at least 
Comes on them in the gulf of future time : 
For deeds committed without solid grounds 
They, or their sons, or later kin, atone. 



Here is a rational illustration of the Unity. Mortal man can 
lay no claim to being ever "the same" ; even the bad are not al- 
ways bad, nor are the good always good. There is only one who 
is "the same," says Sophocles, and that is God. He, who with 
infinite wisdom gave up the Son whom He loved, and He, who 
with infinite mercy laid down his life for mankind whom He 
loved, acted from the same motive — and must consequently be 
"the same" in every respect. "Where is this One?" he asks; "the 
wicked we can see in a day, and every day ; but where is the Just 
One ? He will come — in the fullness of time." 

Ou yap Bixacov outs tou<; xaxouq ^aTY]v 
XpijaToug vojju'^etv, outstolk; ipt]aiouq xaxouc; - 
<pc'Xov yap laOXov Ix^aXelv 'hoy Xsyco 
xal xbv xap' auTW (Jeotov ov xXelaxov cptXet. 
aXk' h xpovw yvwqfl xaB' aacpaXwq, sxel 
Xp6voq St'xatov avSpa Sei'xvuacv \xovoq. 
xaxbv he xav ev i^epa yvonj<; {jua. 

Oedip. Tyr. 609. 

For since 'tis false to deem the bad as not 
At random good, the good as never bad, 
I therefore call the same the One who gave 
His dear beloved Son, and Him who gave 
His life up for the one whom best He loved. 
But thou wilt surely know those things in time, 
Since time alone the Man of Justice shows. 
The sinful man you may see any day. 



142 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

The Promise, the Coming, the life, surroundings, death and 
resurrection of our Lord were all matters of deep thought, anx- 
ious converse and keen controversy to those men of former days. 
There was no dogma of their faith that was not tested in the cruci- 
bles of "quaero — propono — affirmo — nego — objicio — respondeo"; 
and knowing what we do of the Greek intellect, its habitude and 
power of discrimination, and its characteristic tendency to follow 
and run down every question to a point where reason could ra- 
tionally exercise its faculties, we need not be surprised at the 
conclusions to which they arrived. How much they were in- 
debted to an occult study of the Jewish Bible, or to that of other 
existing records, is not known — perhaps never will be known, un- 
less it be found that the same mode of writing and concealing 
the Name and names, which was practised by Greek and Roman 
authors, was also practised by those who wrote the Jewish tes- 
tament and the oldest existing records among the Chaldeans, Egyp- 
tians, Persians, Hindoos and Chinese. The possibility and prob- 
ability of such being really the case must not be hastily rejected 
or too quickly brushed aside. The Latins assuredly acquired it 
from the Greeks. From whom did the Greeks obtain the art? 
Greek and Roman writers resorted to it through fear of the tem- 
poral powers. Was there not as much, if not more absolute 
power among the peoples mentioned? And were there not sages 
and poets in their midst? And are not the writings of those 
poets and sages occupied with the same moral, social, philo- 
sophical and veiled religious questions that permeate Latin and 
Greek literature? The Barta Chastram, a sacred poem of the 
Hindoos, and written about 600 B. C, contains the following 
prophecy — and the close resemblance between Jesoudou and 
Jesus, Scandilam and Bethlehem (words meaning in their respec- 
tive tongues "the bread of the house" and "the house of bread") 
will be noticed : 

"There shall be born a brahma in the city of Scandilam: 
he shall be Wichnou Jesoudou. . . . Then, that which is im- 
possible to any other than him, this Wichnou Jesoudou, brahma, 
living among those of his own race, shall purge the world of 
sinners, will make justice and truth reign, will offer sacrifice." 

It is rational to suppose that he, who wrote those words 
openly, must have written still more to the purpose in concealed 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 143 

speech; and the same remark applies to the following phrases 

from the Chinese books : 

"We must wait for this man, and then there will be per- 
fection: therefore it is said 'Without supreme virtue, the su- 
preme law will not take root.' One hundred chi [three thou- 
sand years] have passed waiting for this holy man. . . . Then 
the glory of his name shall inundate the Middle Empire like an 
ocean; it shall reach barbarians and strangers and all places 
where vessels and chariots go." 
Confucius writes thus : — 

"I Khieou, I have heard it said that in western countries 
there shall be a holy man who, without exercising any act of 
government, will prevent all trouble. . . . No man knew how 
to speak his name ; but I Khieou have heard that this was the 
true saint." 

The presumptive arguments are in favor of the wide-spread 
dissemination of the Name, with the same modus agendi, and 
with the same nice deceit of ambiguous diction; and it cannot, 
nor ought not now be a very difficult matter to examine and de- 
cide by those who are proficient in those eastern tongues. Judging 
by a mere translation, it looks as if certain names were hidden, 
after the manner alluded to, in many parts of the Old Testament — 
the Psalms, for instance, the Song of Solomon, and elsewhere; 
and as if the same was the case in that portion of the Assyrian 
story relating the descent of Ishtar into Hades, which reads thus : 

"When her mind has grown calm, and her anger has worn 
itself away, awe her with the names of the great gods! Then 
prepare thy frauds ! Fix on deceitful tricks thy mind ! Use the 
chiefest of thy tricks! Bring forth fish out of an empty 
vessel !" 

This is evidently the language of concealment. 

To get back, however, to our peculiar subject, here are some 
extracts directly bearing on the Promise, Coming, surroundings 
and incidents connected with the mission of our Lord on earth. 

Our own favorite appellation — "the Saviour" — has not been 
passed by in classic literature. The following expressive passage 
from Aeschylus embraces not only the term but also the paternity 
and filiation of the Most High God, and closes with an allusion to 



144 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

the birth place of Christ and the season in which the Nativity 
would occur: 

Aeyot^' av avBpa xovoe to>v axaO^uv xuva, 
awrrjpa vab<; xporovov, u(|;y)Xy)<; czey-qs 
aitiXov xoOY^pT), [JLovoyevsg tsxvov xaxpV 
xat yr^v cpavsijav vau-rcXoiq xap' IXxcBa* 
xaXXccrrov v^ap etaioecv ex yji^aioq, 
oootxopo) ot^d)VTt xYjyalov peo<;. 

Agam. 896. 

Him would I speak of, Guardian of the folds 

And guiding Saviour of this life-boat ours, 

Of Him, the empyrean's prop and stay, 

The only One Begotten by the Sire : 

And of that land, to mariners a hope ; 

That wintrish day so glorious to behold, 

A bubbling spring for pilgrim parched with thirst. 



Euripides preaches the eternal Design, and a Redeemer to 
come: 

'AXX' oilve/st toc a/Yj^a, xczv axwOev 73 
dtvTjp 6 '/p^j-6<;, oujTU/ouvxaq o'xpeXelv. 

Iphig. in Aul. 984. 

But surely, surely, there's a grand design ; 
And in it, distant far, the Good Man was 
To aid the wretched. 

"O^to? 5' e^et xt cyji^T., xtxX^axetv 6eouc;, 

Troad. 470. 

And yet there is a scheme (to quote the gods), 
When some One would take up our hapless lot. 



"Seek and you shall find" is the burden of what Aeschylus 
writes; but, adds the poet, it is well to bear in mind that un- 
wavering belief in the Coming is all-essential — whether for the 
one who seeks to fortify himself beforehand with rational proofs 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 145 

of the event, or for him who simply yearns for it. The Coming 
is for all; the Coming must be, and will be in time : — 

Ac'xa §s xolq \xev xaOouatv [ixQzlv Ixtppsxsr to ^jlsXXov $' 

ixsc ysvocx' av rjXuacg, xpoxatpeta), 

taov 51 tu xpoarlveiv. 

xopbv yap ^et auvopGpov auyaTg. 

Agam. 249. 

Justice inclines to those who've spent their lives 
In searching for the truth ; but whensoe'er 
The Coming may occur, hail, ere it comes, 
That which will be, and will be shared alike 
Be every one who yearns beforehand : 
For come it will — the dawn so clear with light. 



Sophocles adds his tribute of information to the general 
stock. He knows and believes that the Son (to ved^ov), his Re- 
deemer, liveth ; and that He will yet stand on earth. But when ? 
No pious psalms of a godly man will hurry the arrival, no lamen- 
tations of an humbler soul, no sighs or sobs of those who wait 
expectant. Heaven and the immortal Author of life will retain 
the Messiah — until Joseph the man-virgin, and Mary his spouse, 
appear and are called upon by God to take up their destinies : — 

To yap ved^ov ev TOioTaBe ^oaxexat 
X^potatv auTOU, xat viv ou OdXxoq 8eou, 
ouS' oy.$poq, ouSe xveufxaxwy ouBev xXover 
aXX' tqSovgcTi; a^o^Gov e^atpet @cov 
kq touO' ewq Tt? dvrt xap0evou yuvr) 
xXY)6fi, Xd^y) t' ev vuxti 9povTt'owv ^epoq, 
TJxot xpoq avopbq r\ tIxvwv <po@ou^,evY). 

Trachin. 144. 

The Child is fostered in his own abodes : 

No ardent language of a godly soul, 

No rain of tears, no sighs, can move Him yet ; 

But with delight He glads unruffled Life 

Up to the time when some man-virgin's spouse 

(In dread before of children or of man) 

Be called on in her turn, and take at night 

Her own allotted portion of life's cares. 



i 4 6 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

It is well to note that xaxov and xaxd, malum and mala, are 
terms applied by Greek and Latin writers to words and phrases 
that lure the pagan through their ordinary sense, but are big with 
hidden meaning for the initiated, y u v -q , for instance, would 
imply "a woman" to the former class, and "the woman" to the 
latter; and Euripides, taking the Virgin for his topic, begins by 
commenting on the fact that yuvrj is "a lure of the biggest kind," 
since it permits him to speak as he does of the one zvoman in 
whom he and his fellows were so deeply interested. Having thus 
imbued the profane and Christian minds with different ideas from 
the start, he proceeds to tell the familiar story — how Mary, "full 
of grace," would conceive through God; and how Joseph, the 
carpenter and man-virgin, would take the defenceless (a T^poq) 
Child, and "put all household bliss aside." The entire extract is 
documentary evidence of how the Immaculate Conception, the 
transcendent mystery of the Incarnation, and the marital relation- 
ship between the mother and the guardian of the Child were 
mooted and discussed by the Greek mind long before Mary and 
Joseph were born in the flesh ; and how there was an opinion 
amongsome writers, includingEuripides (for he says"e'xst S'dvdyxrjv 
* * * pajTov 8' oxw to pjSiv"), that Joseph would be a eunuch. 



Toutg) 8s SfjXov w<; yuvrj xocxbv \xiya~ 
xpocrOsi<; yap 6 axeipaq ts xdxSpl^S xaTTjp 
<pspvd<; dxwxta' <!><; dxaXXayOfl xaxoG. 
6 8' a Hi Xa^wv dxYjpbv eiq %6'^.ouq <j>utov 
yeyr)6s xoj^ov xpocrxcGsti; dfdX^axt, 
xocXbv xaxtato), xal xsxXoiatv ixxovec 
SuaxYjvoq, oX^ov Scj^dxcov uice^eXwv. 
eysc 8' dvdyxTjV wars XYjSeuaaq xaXotq 
ya^potat yac'pwv o-w^exat xtxpbv Xeyog 
r\ 7pY]Jxa Xsxxpa, xsvOspoix; 8' dvG)?sXei<; 
Xa^wv xts^sc t' dya0<j t6 SuaTuysq' 
paaTov 8' otw xb [j.y)8!v dXX' avio^eX - ?]? 
euY)6ia xax' olxov YSpmat yuviq. 
SacpYjv 8s ^tadr jxyj ydp ev y' l^oTg 86[xot<; 
enq cppovouaa xXecov ^ yuvalxa yp-q, 
to ydp xaxoupyov jxdXXov Ivtcxtsi xuxptq 
ev ictic, aocpalatv. 'H 8' dinqyavoq yuvrj 
yvto^yj ^payeta |j.wptav d^peOr). 

Hipp. 627. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 147 

This shows how great a lure the woman is : 
For He, the Father, who made choice of her, 
Who through her had begotten and waxed great, 
Sent gifts of grace from his own home, that she 
Might from iniquity be far removed. 
And he, who sheltered the defenceless Child, 
Rejoiced in adding to the statue grace, 
Beauty unto the meanest thing that is, 
And, in the hardest straits, toiled for their clothes — 
He who had put all household bliss aside. 
It must be so (just as the one allied 
To noble kin will gladly for himself 
The hard bed rather than the soft one keep, 
While he, allied to kin that have no hopes, 
Urges for his own comfort lack of means) ; 
And impotency's easiest for such 
As he : but, hopeless lost in innocence, 
His spouse is consecrated to the home. 
The merely prudent female I detest ; 
For in my house a woman should not be 
More knowing than a woman it beseems, 
Since 'mongst those prudent ones concealed desire 
Begets a wickedness far greater still. 

But irresistible the woman who, 
In our poor judgment, has been kept from sin. 



Homer supplies an instance where the same set of words 
tells one story to the uneducated pagan, another to the mere scien- 
tist, and still a third to the Christian. 

Venus, wounded by a mortal man (Diomede), ascends to 
Olympus and tells her grievance to Dione who consoles her thus : — 



i 4 8 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Tyjv 5' Y^et(3ex' execxa Atcovr), ota Oeacov 
xexXaOt, xexvov e^ov, xal avaa^eo XYjBo^eviq xep* 
xoXXot yap 8tj xXfj^ev 'OXujjixia ou)^.ax' e^ovxe? 
e?" avopwv ^aXex' aXye' £%' aXXiqXotat xtOevxe?. 

385 TXfj p,lv "Apr)? oxe t^tv T Qxo? xpaxepo? x' 'E<ptaXxY)?, 

xatoe? 'AXwrjoq, ofjaav xpaxepw evl oea^or 
XaXxea) 0' ev xepa^w Beoexo xptaxat'Sexa [Jif)va?' 
xat vu xev ev0' axoXotxo "Apr)? axo? xoXe^oto, 
£i ti.T) ^Tjxputr), xeptxaXXyj? 'Hepi^ota, 

390 'Ep^ea e?T)YyetXev 6 8' l^lxXeipev "ApYja 

tjStj xecpo^evov /aXexb? oe e oeafjib? eoa^-va. 

TXfj 5' "Hpyj, oxe ^tv xpaxepb? xat? 'A^<ptxpuu)vo? 
o"e£txepbv xaxa jjia^bv otaxtl) xptyXu>y v tvt 
Pe^Xtjxsf xoxe xat ^tv avTqxeuxov Xa^ev aX-fo?. 

395 TXfj 5' aio*T)? ev xoiat xeXwpto? (ixuv otaxov 

euxe ;xtv cjuxbq avrjp, utb? A to? atytoxoio, 
ev xiiXw ev vexueact (3aXu>v, douvyjatv IStoxev. 



Divine Dione then addressed her thus : 
"Endure, my child, and suffer, though aggrieved. 
Many of us who hold Olympian homes, 
Receiving each in turn afflictions sore, 
Have long endured them on account of man. 

Mars suffered, when the Aloean twins, 
Otus and hardy Ephialtes, penned 
Him fast in durance vile. Confined was he 
For thirteen cycles in a clayey dome 
As hard as brass : and now it might have chanced 
That battle-loving Mars had perished then, 
Did not their step-dame, Eriboea fair, 
Make known to Mercury what was within. 
He rescued Mars, by this time all tired out ; 
But harsh confinement served to tame him well. 

And Juno suffered, when Amphytrion's son, 
Endowed with mighty strength, had struck her breast, 
The right hand breast with its tricuspid load : 
Incurable distress then held her fast. 

And He, the wonderful, unknown 'mongst them, 
Endured the fleeting load, when this same man, 
The son of lordly life, gave Him to pains, 
Hauling Him to the gate among the dead. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 149 

NOTES. 

1. lla Ssdwv — for AIONE points 'lr\aouq Xp'ccrcos, Swnqp. 

2. Our earth and its aerial envelope have time and again been 
subjected to and violently disturbed by internal and external 
forces acting in such a manner on its density, nature, form 
and appearance as to change the one-time luminous orb into 
an opaque spheroid. For whom was this transformation 
effected? For man. 

3. Volcanic energy has played an important part in the forma- 
tion of our globe by relieving the inward strain, thickening 
and consolidating the crust, raising up huge mountains to 
guard the confines of continents and ward off tempestuous 
gales, and by forming a friable and luxuriant soil for 
vegetation. 

For whom was the Mars of elemental fire thus working? 
For man. 

The fierce outbreaks, that were more or less continuous from 
Metamorphic to Tertiary time, ceased in Post-tertiary days, 
and a period of rest ensued that was marked by the full outline 
of continents, shaping of our present water-courses, by terraces 
and raised beaches. 

For whom were the craters closed? For whom was liquid 
trap kept beneath the surface by lateral thrust ( t Qto<; — ouxat)) 
and by the incubus ( 'EyiaXiriq ) of downward pressure? 
For whom was the Mars of destructive fire thus imprisoned 
in mountainous domes of baked and hardened clay? For man. 
And though the volcano still breaks out sporadically, and 
though the preliminary rumbling ('Hepf^oia — iqspia (3oyj) of im- 
prisoned steam and gases tells us that the Mercury-like lava 
is running up the pipe in order to deliver the Mars of fire, 
still the fierceness and frequency of volcanic action are less 
than in pristine times — the Mars of fire has been tamed, as 
it were. 

4. And Juno — the mythological equivalent for the dry land of 
our globe — suffered too, and repeatedly. Many times had she 
been sunk beneath the waves; and it is matter of geological 
record that once, in the early Tertiary period, when the 
Western Hemisphere (or left breast) lay intact, the right 
breast, with its tricuspid load of Europe, Asia and Africa, 
was carried down to the depths of ocean, there to be dis- 
tressed by the agencies of destructive disintegration. 

For whom was this done? For man. 

5. "And once in after ages," exclaims the poetic seer, warming 
to his theme, "was the load of this world borne by a wonderful 
Being (true God and true man), who was unknown among 
those sons of Adam ("The world knew him not." John I. 10), 
and who was hauled by them to Golgotha." 



1 5 o THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

ecu-rap 6 §yj xpbq Bw^a Aibq xal ^.axpbv "OXu^xxov, 
x-qp axewv, douvflat xexaptJiivo<;• ajxap otaxds 
400 w^o) evt att^apw iriXTqXaTO, xfjos Be 6u^l6v. 

xu 8' Ixl Ilacqwv dSuvqcpaxa <pap^.axa xaaawv 
TQxeaax'' ou ^xsv yap xt xaxa6vu]xd<; y' etetuxxo. 
<JXexXio<;, d^pt^oepyds, oq oux o6ex' acauXa pellwv, 
oq xd^oiaiv exTjSe 8eou<; o't "OXu^xov s/ouatv. 



II. V. 381.404. 



But He, afflictions' fate-appointed end, 

Pierced as he was with pains, ascended thus 

To heaven and to Life's own dwelling place : 

But on his shoulders strong had been impressed 

That very burden ; and it proved a cause 

Of deep solicitude unto his mind. 

And sovereign remedies against all ills 

The Healer poured upon and saved this man — 

For no way mortal had he been designed. 

Benighted, reckless man ! who did what was 

Forbidden by decree, and heeded not ; 

Who has with guess-work vexed Olympian gods. 



Those men of old had a knowledge equal if not superior to 
our own in all that pertained to mind, matter, and the philosophi- 
cal, astronomical and geological building of this earth; and they 
were saturated with the conviction that much was expected from 
those to whom God had given much in the way of intellect and 
genius. In what direction? They did not think that the world 
would be benefited overmuch by telling of war, or love, or re- 
venge, or headstrong passion, or rural pleasures, or other motives 
that rule the court, the camp, the grove. Such existed, and would 
probably exist until the end of time ; and there was no lack of 
Pagan writers to spend life's wick on trifles that they loved. What 
men love most, they write of; and the God and word of God that 
the poets loved in heart, they wrote in poetry — disguised, it is 
true, but only from those who would have spurned the Word and 






IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 151 

ai-^ioxoq — Adam, the aegis-bearer or "lord of creation," to 
whom dominion over all other creatures was given (yaltx e/w). 
ttuXw sv vex. — Golgotha, where our Lord was crucified, sig- 
nifies "a skull," and (according to John XIX. 20 and Heb. 
XIII. 12) was situated close to the city gate. "He," continues 
the seer, "He, the destined death of original sin and woe 
(xfjp axewv), ascended to the heaven of heavens, and carried 
with him the tokens of Redemption — the stigmata of his 
crucifixion." 

For whom was Calvary's victim pierced with nails and lance? 
For man: for his sake, and aeons previous to his existence, 
had the burden of the world been impressed on the shoulders 
of our Lord; and to save this man, the Saviour poured out 
a sovereign remedy — his own precious blood. And why all 
this for a mere creature? Because the Creator had given him 
an immortal soul. 

He apostrophizes Adam who, by eating the forbidden fruit, 
forfeited the right of transmitting immediate knowledge, and 
left posterity the vexed creatures of guess-work (-uoijoiaiv) — of 
"Reason, the power 
To guess at right and wrong, the twinkling lamp 
Of wand'ring life, that winks and wakes by turns, 
Fooling the follower betwixt shade and shining." 



trampled on the preachers. While patriotic and law-abiding citi- 
zens, they distinguished what was Caesar's from what was God's, 
and formed of themselves an inner circle, a "gens humana" (as 
Horace puts It) that was bound together by the strong ties of 
religious fervor, a common interest and a common danger. Those 
men could not have written with the haste and ease of ordinary 
writers: every word had to be studied, every sentence to be 
weighed, in order to spread the light and still preserve the caco- 
graphic veil — to be studied and weighed lest obscurity should 
nullify desire, or desire focus light too manifestly on the obscure 
— to be studied and weighed lest over-timidity expose them to the 
contempt, and over-daring to the censure of the cult. It must 
have been a toilsome and a dangerous task ; but they never fal- 
tered in their missionary endeavors, and there was an irresistible 
fascination for those strong swimmers to see which of them 



152 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

could breast the current best and get closer to the danger buoys 
without being carried beyond by their own impetuosity or the 
back-wash of the waves. Every now and again we get glimpses 
like the following into the lives, motives, sufferings, hopes and 
aims of this inner circle. Euripides comments upon society at 
large and (through an ingeniously lettered division of M E P I A E Z 
into MEP, EPIAE, AEPIAEZ) divides it into three classes : — 
the upper class — b'X^toi and Betvot (A A fl 110 and N I T I I I I ) — 
that possesses wealth and influence, acknowledges no God, and 
persecutes the cult; the lower class — avoxpeXel? (AI=TI=IOIAII=TI=NI), 
that goes with the tide ; and the Christians— xpuruot (nriO=IAI=II), 
midway between the other two divisions — who yearn for higher 
and better things, are loyal to their God, and are consequently 
loyal to existing law and order in the state : 

Tpst<; yap xoXtxwv [xspfBeq* 6t ^iv oX(Jtot, 
avaxpeXetc; te xXetovwv x' epwa' aec. 
6t 8' oux, e'xovTS? xat axavt'CovTe<; (Ji'ou 
Betvot, ve^ovxet; to) <p66vo> xXstov [t.epoq 
elq toik; I'xovTa? xevxp' dquautv xaxa, 
yXtoaaati; xovrjpwv xpoffTocubv (p^Xou^evot. 
Tpt(I>v Ss ^JLotpwv i] 'v \xkacL> aw'Cet xoXetq, 
xoa^ov 9 uXaaaoua' ovitv' av t«sT) xoXtq. 



Supp. 238. 



Of citizens there are divisions three — 
The happy rich, the struggling poor, and they 
Who yearn constantly for better things. 
The mighty, owning not and lacking Life, 
Devoured with hate, deluded by the tongues 
Of knavish leaders, aim calumnious shafts 
Against the ones who hold the better share. 
And midway in those three divisions is 
The one that keeps our cities safe and guards 
Whatever code of law the state enacts. 



Does the following savor of polytheism? "The believers in 
One God," exclaims Sophocles, "change not, age not, die not! 
Everything else — earth, men, their beliefs and opinions — is sub- 
ject to decay and change": 

T Q 9(Xtoct' At'yewi; xat, (xovot<; ou ytyverat 
8eoIjt yfjpaq ouhk xax9avetv xots. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 153 

xa 8' aXXa au^yzl xav0' 6 xayxpaxr^ ^povoq. 

9>0t'vsi ^ev la^iJ? yvjs, <p6tvei SI <Jwu.axo<;, 

Gvqaxei 8s TcfcjTtq, (iXaaxavsc 8' axcaxta, 

xal xveu^a xauxbv ouxot' out' ev avSpaatv 

cplXoiq ^e^Tjxev ouxe xpo? xoXtv xoXec. 

xocq ^ev yap tjStj, io"iq 8' Iv uaxepo) XP^V 

xa xepxva xtxpa yiyvexai xauOiq tpc'Xa. 

Oedip. Col. 607. 
For monotheists, child of Aegeus dear, 
Old age is not, nor theirs it is to die. 
Resistless time commingles all things else. 
Alike decays the body's strength and earth's ; 
Religion dies and irreligion blooms ; 
And never has the Spirit gone the same 
To friendly peoples or to state with state : * 
For now to some, to others later on, 
Sweet things are sour, and pleasing once again. 



When and by whom was the cipher invented, and rules laid 
down for cryptic writing? The ancients themselves were unable 
to solve the question; for Sophocles (who flourished B. C. 450) 
distinctly asserts that "no man knows their date or origin ; they 
existed from the musty past ; they were handed down by word of 
mouth" (aypaxxa): — 

OuSs j6lvetv xoaouxov cpo^iqv xa aa 

x.Y]puy[JLa6' wjx' aypaxxa xaa<paXY] Oswv 

vo^t{JLa 8uvaa0at Gvtqxov ovO' uxep8pajxstv. 

ou yap xi vuv ye xaxGlq, aXk' ocei xoxe 

t,Y) xauxa, xou8el<; ol8sv it, oxou <pavY). 

Antig. 453. 
Nor did I deem your edicts of such force 
As did I that the rules, unwrit and safe, 
Of gods could outmanoeuvre mortal man. 
Those rules are not a something of to-day, 
Or yesterday, but flourished through all time : 
And no man knows from whom or whence they came. 



Philemon pours out the true Falernian; and the draught, 
though not a long one, is strong enough to intoxicate the un- 
biased seeker after knowledge, since it is the triple distilled es- 
sence of all that we have argued so far — poetic discourse, capable 



154 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

of being rendered in two ways ; a cipher, with three chief factors, 
Division, Substitution, Transposition ; and an unvarying intent 
on the writers' part to spread the light and call upon the Name 
of their God. It is addressed to Nikerates, a fair representative 
of the modern reader who willingly concedes the great genius and 
varied learning of the ancients, but denies their worship of a One 
God, scouts the idea of their having had any knowledge of a Re- 
deemer to come, and (with a confidence begotten of his own 
reading and that of others) boldly asks "When, where, and by 
what classic writer has the Christ been named or alluded to?" 
Philemon thus replies : — You are the slave of custom ; you see 
only through the eyes of others. While ancient song holds but 
one verbal ground or set of words, there are two meanings at- 
tached to those words, one for the profane, another for the cult ; 
and if you want the latter, you must divide, substitute, transpose 
(apxocC, xXsxt', xuxa), and be imbued solely and entirely with 
good intent (^.yjSIv xXavqQyjc;). Do this: the poet will do the rest 
— for his one and only aim is to tell the truth and to write the 
Name of Him who will die for sinners. 

The reader will notice the skilful use of do-qv and d8oJ for 
docS^v and aotoou, whereby the ambiguous meaning is preserved. 
The contraction is similar to and justified by cpSi) and (o§6<; for 
aocBiQ and iocooq, and by aow for adoa). 

Otei au tou<; Gavovxa*;, w Ntx^paxe, 

•rpucpfjg axaaY)? [lezaka^yiaq h @(ti> 

xeyeuyevat to 0elov ox; \ekriQ6zaq; 

ej-nv Sc'xrjg 6cp9aX[i.b<; o<; xa xccvO' opa. 

xal yap xa6' aoy]v Suo zpi$ouq vo^(£o[xev, 

jjitav Bcxac'cov, x?^epav aae(3d)v ooov. 

e( yap 81'xaioq xacs^q e^ouatv ev, 

tq yf) os xaXutpei touq Suo tu xocvtc 7p<$va>, 

apxa£/ axsXOwv, xXIxx', axoaxepei, xuxa. 

^Yjoev xXavYjOfj? - eaxc xav a3ou xpt'atq, 

rjvxep xotY^asi, Sebq 6 xavxwv SeaxoxYjq, 

ou x' ovojjloc ipo^epov, ou 8' av ovo^aaatfj.' eya>, 

8? xolq a^apxavouat xpb<; ij.y}xo<; ^(ov 

Ex incert. Comoed. 360. 
Dost think, O Nikerates, that the dead, 
Who mastered all that is refined in life, 
Have, as 'twere mindless, passed the Godhead by? 
Tis custom's eye that everything beholds. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 155 

For two ways, truly, we employ in song, 
One for the just, and one for the profane. 
Now, since the just and godless will have one. 
And since the ground will always hide the two, 
Keep tearing, stealing, wanting, changing round. 
You must not wander from the way in aught : 
And, rest assured, the poet's great event, 
The one of others he will make, is God, 
The Lord of all, whose name is dread to speak, 
Whose name I still may call upon — the Lord 
Who gives his life for sinners at the end. 



The following extract has reference to the same topic as the 
preceding, and shows the magnitude and labor of the task in- 
volved upon the poets by an ambiguous mode of diction, and how 
they toiled along with the hope of being interpreted in the Chris- 
tian sense only, when Christ, "the Fullness of time," and chtis- 
tianity would be well established throughout the world. 

The poets, says Euripides, are well versed in astronomy, 
geology, botany and such other useful branches (xa XP"n ffTa ) 
of knowledge; but they pass them by, as a rule, for the greater 
pleasure of studying and expounding the Word. Each and every 
poetical exposition is twofold in nature, since one meaning is in- 
tended for Christians, another for Pagans: the first of those is 
good, and a labor of love; the second is — "the burden of our 
lives." 

Toe XP 1 ^' £xc(TTa[jLeff0a xai ytyvwaxotxev, 

oux exxoyou[xev, B' 01 \iev apytaq uxo, 

01 5' iqBovyjv xpoOlvxe? dvxl xou xaXou 

aXXr) xtv'' seal 8' tqSovoc! xoXXat @cou,- 

(jiaxpoa xe Xea%at xal cj^oXtq, xepxvbv xaxov, 

alBax; xe* ocaaal 8' efatv tq {JlIv ou xaxi], 

ig 8' cfyOoq o'c'xwv el B' 6 xatpbq irjv aayriq, 

oux av 86' fjcrxYjv xaux' exovxe ypd^axa. 

Hipp. 379. 

We know and are conversant with the things 
Worth knowing, but elaborate them not, 
Some, through not being able for the work, 
And more, preferring to this earthly joy 
Another pleasure of a diff 'rent kind. 



156 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Life's pleasures are not few — discourses deep, 
And controversy keen, the blithe deceit, 
And reverence. But twofold are they all : 
One's good, and one's the burden of our homes. 
But if the Fullness of all time were clear, 
Those writings then would not subsist as two. 

Euripides sheds further light upon the various styles of writ- 
ing favored by different poets. One aims at the purely trans- 
cendental — the omnipotence and omniscience and omnipresence of 
the Most High, the Oneness and Trinity of God, the inscrutable 
Plan ordained from the beginning, and the sublime contract be- 
tween the Father and the Son for man's redemption ; another 
loves to combine religious matter with philosophical, astronomical, 
or geological lore; a third confines himself to those wholesome 
truths with which his fellowmen are most concerned, aspires to 
write them in the simplest style that is allowable, and shuns or 
takes no joy in such daring pieces of ''wickedness" ( xoXpj xaxjj ) 
as enigmas, acrostics and anagrammatical sentences; a fourth is 
so fascinated with those disgraceful devices (ac's^pa xlpoY])as to 
make them his constant study. "I aim at none of those," says the 
poet with becoming modesty ; "I simply wish to have the envied 
credit of a name that embraces the most glorified of all names." 
And he has— for EVPiniAEI (divided into EVPII-TIAEI) points 

Xpl<JTO<; Tlf)(JOU<;. 

"Epwxeq elulv i^iv iuavxo(oi @(ou # 

6 ;asv yap euyeveiav c^efpet Xa(kTv 

T(7) V ou/i xoOxo cppovxtq, aXXa yprj^axwv 

tcoXXwv xexXfjaSac (iouXexai Tuaxrjp 56[aoT<;* 

<2XX(j) V apeaxsc jjlyjSsv bydq ex <ppsvwv 

Xeyovxi xelOecv xou<; xeXaq x6X[ay) xaxyj' 

ot S* aij/pa KepBiq xpocOe xou xaXou @poxu>v 

Ijjxouaiv ojxo) (Jt'o<; avOpcoxwv icXaviq. 

£ya) os xoiixwv ouoevoq xp^co xuxetv, 

86£av 8' e^ouXoi^Yjv av euxXec'a? e'^ecv. 

Frag. Rhad. (Stob.). 

Life's pleasures are of many kinds for us: 
For one desires to grasp what is sublime ; 
Another heeds not this, but in his works 
Likes to be named the source of many things ; 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 157 

To yet another, speaking from the heart 
What wholesome is his neighbors to persuade, 
Adventure in deception brings no joy; 
While more search after those disgraceful schemes 
In preference to the brethren's general good. 
Men's mode of life is thus a constant round. 
But, while I aim at none of those, I'd wish 
To have the honor of a glorious name. 

While in this way the poets occasionally broke bounds and 
sermonized on their cult, their ritual and practices, it was never 
for very long. The Name was the rallying point from which they 
diverged every now and again to higher flights ; to this did they 
invariably return for further inspiration, and they took advantage 
of every natural opening in the surface plot of their subject to 
weave around this name the epithets of Divinity, the abstruse 
mysteries of their faith, and all the relevant points connected with 
the coming and mission of the Redeemer. 

The following is an instance: Menelaus is wounded by 
Pandarus, who thus violates the covenant between the two con- 
tending forces. This covenant and this violation of it furnish 
Homer (who speaks through Agamemnon) an opportunity for 
dwelling upon the covenant entered into before the world was 
made, the immutability of God's design, the promises made to 
successive patriarchs that the Messiah would come and be born 
of their race, the results that would befall the Jews who would 
violate the pact between God and themselves (through their 
patriarchs) by rejecting and crucifying the Saviour, and the 
physical signs that would attend his death : — 



158 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

155 <I>cXs xasi'yvYjxe, Qavaxov v6 xoc opxt' exa^vov, 1 

olov xpoaxTqaa? xpb 'A^atwv Tpcoal ^a^saGai, 
&q a' e^aXov Tpwsq, xaxa 5' b'pxca xiaxa xaxiqaav. 
oj \ih xwq aXcov xeXec opxtov, al^ia xe apvd>v, 2 

cxovoac x' axprjxoi xal Septal f)c; exexi0^ev 

160 e'c'xep yap xe xal auxi'x' 'OXufjixtoq oux exeXeaaev, 3 

ex xe xal 6t];s xeXer auv xe ^eyaXw axexiaav, 
<juv atpfjatv xs9aXyjat yuvat^t xe xal xexeecatv. 
eu yap eyw x65e o!8a xaxa <ppeva xal xaxa 6u^6v 
eaaexat rj^ap ox' av xox' 6Xa>Xf) "iXtoq tprj, 4 

165 xal ripcafJLoq, xal Xab<; eii^eXco) ripta^oio" 5 

Zeu<; oe ccpt Kpovio-qq, u^c'^uyoq, aiOept vacwv* 6 

aiixb<; Ixca-aetTfjjtv epe^vYjv at'yc'Ba xaat 7 

xfji; 8' axaxY)<; xoxewv. xa jxev eaaexat oux dxeXeaxa. 

II. IV. 155-168. 

O Brother well-beloved, 'twas I who caused 
Those sworn pledges, now to be thy death ! 
'Twas I, 'twas I who brought Thee forward here 
To battle singly for Achaean men 
With Trojans, when those Trojans cut thee off 
And trampled on the solemn bonds of faith ! 

Not false though — for how could it ! — is that bond, 
The blood of rams, those pure and hallowed draughts, 
And pledges sure on which we pinned our trust : 
Since, though the Light has yet not paid the debt, 
He'll do so later ; and pay back they must 
In full with rulers, with their wives and seed. 
For this I know, know well in mind and soul : 
The day will come when sacred Troy must fall, 
Priam, and swarthy Priam's people too ; 
The day will come when Life, the full of time, 
The hypostatic bond, who dwells in light, 
Must fall for them — when, wroth with want of faith, 
He'll shake the darkened aegis over all ! 
Those things will to the letter be fulfilled. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 159 

NOTES. 

xaaiyvYjTs — Christ is addressed — "For whosoever shall do the 
will of my Father, that is in heaven, he is my brother, and 
sister, and mother." Matt. XII. 50. "It was I," exclaims the 
poet, speaking for man, "it was I who caused between the 
Father and Thee that solemn compact of old which neces- 
sitated thy death. It was I who brought thee here on earth 
to battle for the Gentiles ('A^atot-a %<k'ioq,"the untrue," those 
who had lost the true faith) with the Jews (for TPOEI points 
'IouSafot, thus IIIOOETA) — the Jews who would cast thee off 
(a' I^ocXov) and trample on the covenant of faith." 
Is that oath, sworn from the beginning, and ratified by burnt- 
offerings and the sure tokens given to Adam, Noah, Abraham, 
Jacob, and others — is that oath changeable and fluctuating 
(aXiov )? No! How could it be — since God hath sworn it. 
Though Christ, the Light, has not yet paid his debt by coming 
to the world, he will do so later on ; and the price paid by the 
Jews, in return for his being born among them only to be 
rejected and crucified by them, will be their own downfall as 
a nation and dispersal as a people. 

We read this in Luke II. 34: — TSou oSxoq xelxat elq Tcxwatv xal 
dvdaracjiv xoXXwv ev to> TapaiqX, xal dq aY)^.ecov avrtXeydf-evov. 
Behold, this child is set for the downfall and removal (dvdcrcaaiv) 
of many in Israel, and for the sign mentioned in return therefor 
(dvxtXey.) This sign (the Shiloh in the flesh and of Jewish 
blood), and those words of Simeon are explicative of the 
earlier prophecy (Gen. XLIX. 10) : "The sceptre shall not 
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until 
Shiloh come." 

IAIOI or Stwv (IAI-ONI) — the pointed and figurative emblem of 
Zion or Jerusalem, just as "Trojans" are of the Jews, and 
"Priam" of their ruler. 

lii^eXtw — Ionic genitive of iii^eXfy? or lii^eXiaq, a compound 
of eu and \xeki;xq, which (like ^et'Xocg and ^Xacq) is a poetical 
form of ^eXa?. The term "fairly-dark" or "pretty dark" has 
reference to the swarthy complexion of the Jewish race; and 
Hesiod uses an intensified form of the same word ( ex^sXcav ) 
when describing the still darker complexion of "the Brazen 
Race." 

i}<|>iC,uyo<; — ^uydv or Z,uy6q, "that which joins two others," 
and hence the Son, who is the bond or tie between the Father 
and the Holy Ghost. To mark the Son more distinctively, 
xpovi'Srj? ("the fullness of time") is added, as it is He who 
will die for men (dXcoXf] acpc — the verb being understood from 
v. 164.) 

"And there was darkness over all the earth." Luke XXIII. 44. 
"And the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent." Matt. 
XXVII. 51. 



160 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

One more from him who has been felicitously styled " the 
poet of design" ; and it is given with the ulterior motive of prov- 
ing that, despite all which has been said and written to the con- 
trary, there was a real Homer, and that this Homer was the author 
of the entire Iliad. 

We have already seen how Vergil, Ovid, and Euripides signed 
their respective names in cipher characters in order to mark a 
picture word or specify the Name. Now, if Homer did the 
same, it would be an indisputable proof of his individuality and 
authorship. He has done it : his sign manual has been impressed 
upon each of the twenty-four books; and two extracts (one 
here, the second further on) bear out the truth of our assertion. 
He speaks through different characters, but always through 
"counselling Zeus" — and appropriately, since he is "the designing 
life" of the poem, a "far-seeing son of his time," and by right 
divine "a ruler." Cloaked with this, he now sarcastically com- 
ments upon the false idea given to his magnum opus by the pagan 
world, and concludes by utilizing his own name for the purpose 
of pointing out that "Name which is above every name." 

Agamemnon's heralds take Briseis from Achilles, who sub- 
sequently complains to Thetis. She promises to seek Zeus upon 
the twelfth day, and ask the Olympian to honor her son. Who is 
this Thetis that comes to woo the poet for a favor? As her 
name denotes ( tc0y)[ju "to place, order, arrange, plan, bring to 
pass"), she is all that is implied in "plan, scheme, design, plot," 
and stands for the orderly arrangement of a molecule as well as 
of the universe, and for the plot of a simple story as well as for 
the grand scheme of creation. It is this goddess of design who 
comes to the poet, and comes at an appropriate time. The stormy 
incidents of the first book conclude virtually with the return of 
Ulysses after having restored Chryseis to her father. This is the 
real ending of the book ; all that follows has peculiar reference 
to the poet's self and describes him (i) as meditating, and (2) 
as drastically commenting upon the false interpretation which the 
world at large (Juno) has put upon the past events and will put 
upon this meeting between Zeus and Thetis. The meditative por- 
tion shows us the poet — the eupuoxa whose eye doth "glance from 
heaven to earth, from earth to heaven" — retired from his fellow 
men ( axep aXToav ) and sitting upon some lonely hummock on 
terra firma (which is undoubtedly "many-ridged," and is also, 
in its own way, the furthest point of the enlightened vista or 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 161 

Olympus). He is thinking over the wondrous story from the point 
of breaking off, thinking of the means, the manner and the end 
whereby he can best conclude the book so as still to mislead the 
pagan and still bring comfort to the christian. This is the prob- 
lem; and, as he ponders, imagination works — inspiration comes — 
the quick ideas of his mind conceive and draw pregnant pictures — 
and slowly, slowly rises from the sea of thought the Thetis of de- 
sign. In airy fashion does she come at first, and glimpses strange 
and sweet of what he longs for cross his brain ; but soon she takes 
possession of his being, dulls to oblivion every outward sound and 
sight, until finally he falls into deepest revery and assumes that 
well-known and world-wide attitude of reflection — left hand on 
knees, and right hand under the chin. 'Tis thus the siren holds 
him, and sings continuously "Honor the Son!" 



1 62 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

1 . Myjvcv aecSe, Osa, nYjXiq'iaBet.) 'A^tX^?. I 

* * * * * 

493 'AXX' oxe 813 Q ex xoio 8uw8ex.dx"if) yevex' r\ox;, 2 

xai tots 8tj xpbg "OXu^xov taav Oeoc aiev eovxe<; 3 

xavxsq a^a, Zeu<; 8' Vjpxe- ©extg 8' ou XiqQex' Icpsx^eov 4 

xat8b<; sou, dXX' YJy' dveSuaaxo xu^a 6aXdaaY)<;, 
TQsptTj 8' avs^T) jxeyav oupavbv "OuXu^xov.xe, 
eupev 8' eupuoxa Kpovtoigv axsp tj^evov aXXwv 5 

dxpoxaxif) xopucpfj xoXu8ecpdoo<; OuXu^xoto" 

500 xat pa xdpocO' auxoto xaSe^exo, xac Xd6e youvov 6 

cxaifj, SsstTepfj 8* ap' ux' dv0eped>vo<; eXouaa, 
Xtc-ao^isvY) xpooiecxs Ata Kpovt'wva avaxxa* 

Zeu xdxep, e't xoxe 8tq ae ^ex' dSavdxotatv oviqaa 
y) exec, t) e'pyo), x68e txot xoy]T]vov I'eXBwp* 

505 xt^Yjaov ixot utov, 6s (oxu^opwxaxos aXXwv 7 

Now, when the morning twelfth from this appeared, 
To bright Olympus simultaneous sped 
The e'er-existing gods, and life went first. 
Then Thetis, mindful of her son's behests, 
Sprang from the ocean's wave, rose like a mist 
Up to great heaven and Olympian heights, 
And on well-ridged Olympus' highest crest 
Found time's far-seeing son, away from all. 
So, down before him did she take her place, 
Grasping his knees with her left hand ; and then, 
Holding him with the right beneath the chin, 
She fervent spoke to life, the time-born king: 

"O father life ! if e'er in word or work 
It be that I have helped thee 'mongst the gods, 
Grant me this wish : Honor for me the Son 
Who was by fate the earliest-doomed of all. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 163 



NOTES. 

It has already been remarked that the 
opening verse of the Iliad serves as a 
picture for the entire first book. The 
portion concerned with this extract is 
the concluding AEO AKIAEOX. 
Taking the final IAEOZ, and dividing it 
into 
IAE, IAEO, IAEOI, AEOI, AEOA, AEOI, 

EOI, EON, EOI, TION, TIOI, ITOZ, 

we find that each points 17069, and that 
the last ( ITOZ ) is consequently the 
twelfth i?ws from AK (which points AK 
and TIVA) or "e/c toio". 
When " the twelfth morning " shows 
itself, the yjpurno.wl ( AKIAEOI ) with 
"O/xripos ( KIAEOZ ) in front, go to 
"OXvfnros (KIAEOI). 

Bins, in ddpia fashion (AEOA) rises from 
lev/Ma dXds (AEO), goes up to p.iyas ovpavos 
( KIAEOI ) and Olympus (note 3), and 
there she finds the EvptioTra Kpovi8i]s" O/xt]- 
pos (KIAEOI). 

He is apart from S.W01 (EOA), and 
seated on the highest nopvcpT) (KIAEOI) 
of Olympus — for "OXvfxiros (note 3) has 
many a nopvcjyf), viz: — KIAEO, KIAEOI, 
KIAEOA, KIAEON, AIAEOI, IAEOI, 

AEOI, and KIAEOI the highest of all, 

literally speaking. 

6Ms (KIAEOI) takes full possession of 

the poet: his yovva (AEOI) are clasped 

by her <tkoh6., and his yivos ( KIAEON ) by 

her Se£i& (or Se/ona). 

In the beginning, before man or the 

universe existed, was the Son of God 

ordained to die. 



Cipher Reading. 



IAEOI, AI-TI-OI, 



IAI-TI, IAI-TI-O, 

AEOA, An-IOI 

l-TI-OI, EON, EOI, TI-ON, TI-OI, 

ITOIAI 



TIIAIAI-TI-ONI; 

IAIAEOI; 

lAIAnrOZ. 

AIITIOA, AIEOA; 

IAI-rrO AII-TI-O; IAI-VEOZ VAIAEONI: 



IAIAI-TI-OAA KIAIIATAONI note 3. 

TirOA; 

KiAnroz (iz=E). 
lAiAnro, KiAnro, 

KIAniOA, KIAniOAl, AiAnroz, 

lAnroiAi, 
AnroiAi 

VA-IAEOZ. 

AfllONI, 

AEONI; IAI-AEON, 

IAIAEOAI. 



1 64 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

e'xXex'. dxdp jjuv viJv ys ava£ dvopwv 'Aya^e^vwv 
•qxi'lJiYjaev, IXwv yap e'ysi yepag auxb<; dx' oupceg, 
dXXd ctij xep {xtv xlaov, 'OXu^xte, pjxtexa Zed, 
xocppa o* excTpweaat xcGst xpdxoq ocpp' ay 'Axaiot 

510 ulbv i^bv Ttaaxrcv, o<psXX<i)Gcv xe e xt^f]. 

"Qq cpdxo* xt)v §' oijxt xpoqefq vecpeXr]yepexa Zeuq, 
dXX' dxewv 8y)v f,axo. Oexcq S', wq -q^axo youvtov, 
ax; e'xex' IjJixscpuuTa, xal et'psxo Bsuxspov auTtg* 
Nrj^spxlf; t*.ev otq ^ot uxo<ix £0 > * at xaxdveuaov, 

515 r\ dx6six' exef ou xoc exc o"eo<;* o<pp' e5 £i3d> 

Baaov eyo> jxexoc xaatv dxt^oxaxr) 0eo<; eljxt. 

Ttjv 3e ^ey' 6-/0^aaq xpocrlcpT) vetpeXiqyspexa Zeuq* 
■^ Be Xotyta spy', ox' e^' exAoSoxYiaai ef^et? 
"Hpf), oxav \x.' IpeOyjaiv ovstoecot? exeeaatv. 

520 tq 61 xat auxax; \x' a'tet iv dOavdxocai OeoTacv 

ystxst, xac xs (ii <pTQ<rt ^d^T) Tpweaatv dpiqystv. 
dXXd au [>.h vov auxtg axosxtxe* (Jt^xi vo^qf) 
"HpiQ' sjjloI 8e xs xauxa [xsXiqaexac o<ppa xeXeuau). 

Though Agamemnon, ruler over men, 

Has glorified him not — not now, at least, 

For he keeps back the prize he took by force — 

Still, honor him superlatively thou, 

O life endowed with knowledge and with light; 

And strengthen Trojans till Achaean men 

Revere my Son and swell Him in renown." 

Thus she: in cloud-land wrapped, life answered not, 
But long continued silent. Thetis, then, 
As to his knees, ingrafted as it were, 
She clung, bespoke him for the second time : 

"Now bind thyself to me without reserve; 
And make the sign, or come out bold in speech 
(Thou fearest not), that I may plainly know 
How, disesteemed by all, I'm still divine." 

While sighing deeply thoughtful life replied : 
"Then dreadful doings will there surely be, 
Since lure me on thou wilt to make the way 
For Juno difficult, when with her speech, 
Disgraceful speech, she'd vex my inner soul. 
Why, even as it is, she thinks I am 
In strife with gods immortal, and maintains 
That I'm assisting Trojans in the fight! 
Now, leave me (not a whit would Juno see!) 
And, till I work them out, those words I'll heed. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 165 



NOTES. 

8. ArAMEMNflN keeps the yipas (ArAMI) 
back or '-'in the rear" (for air' ovpds is 
equivalent to the adverbial ovpaTus, just 
as dirb o-irovbijs, dirb (pavepov, etc. are to 
a-irovbalus, <pai>epws, etc.) This ytpas combin- 
ation points XpLarla (and its cover Bpia-ijh) 
in good characters : it also points 
'lyo-ovs Xpio-rd?, but in a rather inglorious 
and forced fashion. 

9. Give victory to "the Jews'* until the day 
comes when "the Gentiles" will openly 
acknowledge and worship the Son of God. 

[See preceding extract for the esoteric 
meaning of "Trojans'' and "Achaeans".] 

10. ve<f>e\ri-yep£Ta ( KIAEOI ). 

The poet is in cloud-land — too lost in 
thought to speak. 

11. Thetis, soliciting his thoughts to the total 
exclusion of everything else, entreats him 
either to write the Name, or speak in 
words of power — if for no other reason, 
to show that design, per se is a power- 
ful factor in the art of poetry, especially 
when this poetry is devoted to expound- 
ing the Way, the Truth and the Life. 

12. The 6 x 0t<ras (KIAEOI) "and far-seeing" 
poet cogitates thus : What will it avail 
if I do bear witness to the Name, and 
declare the truth in plain speech ! The 
clearer I write, the more difficult will I 
make the way (ex# os 65onW«) for the 
world ( Juno ), since it is bent on inter- 
preting only its own preconceived idea 
of a Trojan war. What is it thinking (afe) 
of 730 iv ? That Homer is planning with 
design the incident to come ? No ; it is 
rooted in the opinion that a celestial 
Zeus is conspiring with a celestial Thetis 
to help the Trojans, in opposition to the 
schemes of a Juno and a Minerva ! 

13. His preceding words have been blunt 
enough to sa'isfy one portion of design's 
request; but as for ''making the Sign", 
what boots it ? The world, looking only 
upon the surface, would not see one 
iota of the Sign ! 



Cipher Reading. 



VITANII. 



AriTVTI; (TITATVI) 

virANii TirriAAi. 



IAIAEONI— IAIAI-TI-OZ. 



IAIAI-TI-ONI 



166 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

e! V, aye toc xs9aXfj xaxaveuao^aa, o<ppa xexoiOT)^ 14 

525 touto yap e? e^|0ev ye ^ei' dOavdiocat ^eyicTOV 

xex[i.wp - ou yap e^bv xaXcvdypetov, ouB' dxaTT)X6v, 15 

ouS' dcTsXeuTTQTOV, Tt xev xeg>ocXfl xaxaveuaco. 

T H, xcd xuaveyjaiv ex' dcppuat veiiae Kpovtav" 16 

d^pociat 0' dpa yjxliou exepptoaavTO avaxxoq 17 

530 xpaibq dx' d0avd'xoto' [iiyav 3' IXeXt^ev "OXujjlxov. 

II. I. 493-530- 
But, come — so long as thou hast trusted me, 
Then with this head of ours I'll make the sign ; 
Since this same symbol is the greatest mark 
Among the gods — at least, it is from me : 
Because my sign, the sign with head I'll make, 
Is one that is not to be taken back, 
Is not deceptive, is not incomplete." 

He spoke : o'er darkened brows the time-born signed ; 
In prayer, then, the ruler s glossy hair 
Rippled from his immortal head — and then, 
He made great heaven with alleluiahs ring. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 167 



16. 



17. 



NOTES. 

The "good Homer" yields, however, and 
declares that he will make — and make 
with KecpaXr) (KIAEOX) — a sure sign and 
a holy one (W/c/uwp) , the sign deemed 
greatest by christian gods, and the great- 
est that can proceed from Homer's self. 
He specifies in precise terms the nature 
of this proposed sign : 

(a) it is one that is not to be taken 
back : it moves straight on ( and 
straight reading makes it the poets' 
"greatest sign") ; 

(b) it is not deceitful : the cypher char- 
acters are legitimate; 

(c) it is not incomplete: the sign is 
made in full. 

He makes the sign over Kvdveai 6<ppves 
( KIAEOX ) ; and this sign ( written 
straight from left to right , in legitimate 
characters, and in full) is 'Iv<rovs Xpt<rr6s 
— the name in full of Him who stands 
for Immutability , Truth and Perfection. 
When marking the sacred Name upon 
his picture, he (like a true christian ) 
bows the head in prayer (dp£) , bows so 
low that his long, loose locks fall over 
in rippling masses; and when he rever- 
ently utters the Name in his prayer, he 
knows what will result — that 
"In the name of Jesus every knee should 
bow, of those that are in heaven, on 
earth, and under the earth' '. 

Philipp. II. 10. 



Cipher Reading. 



IAIAI-TI-ONI IAI-AEOAA. 



l-AIA-ni-OVT VAI-AT-TOZ. 



1 68 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

It may be said in conclusion that the extracts in this and the 
preceding chapter exemplify fairly well the elusive speech and 
many artifices employed by the poets in writing the Name and 
preaching the gospel of truth. Guided by those, and with a rigid 
adherence to good intent, we can seldom fail to construe the 
meaning of their words aright ; when we do, the failure must be 
ascribable to a want of perspicacity in ourselves, or to some error 
in the text — or to some cunningly framed anagrammatical sen- 
tence in the original. Specimens of this last mentioned kind are 
found in most of the classics, and consist usually of the Name 
coupled with some descriptive epithet, or with some fervent ad- 
juration. From its very nature, this mode of writing is the most 
difficult obstacle to be encountered by the translator, since the 
inner meaning of one or more consecutive lines depends upon the 
solution of the anagram ; but, when solved, it furnishes a ready 
key to what follows, and has the additional merit of being the most 
conclusive proof of studied concealment and of religious intent 
upon the part of the framer. Even so, it is rather fortunate on 
the whole that this anagrammatical phrasing was, like the acrostic, 
rarely employed, and for somewhat analogous reasons: one was 
too evident for general safety ; the other, too obscure for general 
good. Euripides, it will be remembered, styles it the ataxP** tspSr] 
of venturous deception, when he says : 

"While more search after those disgraceful schemes 
In preference to the brethren's general good." 

The difficulty of solving such "schemes" is one thing; that 
of detecting them is another, since we are exceedingly liable to 
pass them by unnoticed and be satisfied with the ordinary sense 
which the surface palimpsest conveys. But there is always some 
friendly note of warning, if we heed it — some admonitory words, 
vague though they may be, to help us in the search ; and such are 
found, as a rule, either immediately before or immediately after 
the anagrammatical clause. One of the best possible indications 
is, to have our hope of great results aroused suddenly by some 
expressive words, and then as quickly dampened by a rather 
commonplace conclusion — to feel a sense of disappointment be- 
cause "the ear that budded fair is burnt and blasted." 

Two specimens of this nature have been presented in the 
selections given from Ovid. Here is another, and from the very 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 169 

Euripides who condemned their indiscriminate use. Commencing 
with an anagrammatical verse (that bears the marks of having 
been surreptitiously framed from a fervent adjuration in prose), 
he adjures the Saviour, points out "the Splendor," "the Light," 
and "equipments" of the line, and then remarks suggestively "all 
of my speech to Thee was to come hither." That "come hither" 
furnishes a clue to the anagram's solution. This done, the mist 
immediately clears ; we are in close touch with the rest of his 
words — and pity we were not, for they are assuredly words of 
power : 



170 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

*Q x<rra Gvyjtwv atuyepac te voaoi. 

Tt cr' lyw Bpajw; tc oe [ay] Spaaw; 

xooe aoi <peyyo<;, XafAxpbq oo' ai0Y]p* i 

e^co 8e So^tov yJoiq voaepaq 2 

oe^via xoityjs* 

SeOpo yap eXOelv xav exog y]v cot. 3 

Ta^a b° ecq 6aXd^.ou<; axeuuet*; xb xdXtv, 

Ta^u yap fftpdXXec xoiiSevl ^atpetq. 4 

ouoe a' dpeaxec to xapov" to 8' axov 

<pc'XTSpov igyet, 

xpetaaov Se voaecv t) Oepaxsuetv. 

Tb ^lv earcv axXouv, T(I> 8s auvdxxec 5 

Xuxy) ts cppevwv, X £ P ac ' v Te xovo?, 

xa? 0' 6ouvT)po<; (Jioq dv6pc6xajv 

xoux ifftt xovwv avaTuauatq 

'AXX' Tt tou £,yjv (pcXispov aXXo 6 

axoToq a^xca^wv xpuxTSi vecpeXatq. 

huaipioizq otj (patvo^eG* ovts? 

touS' OTi touto cn'XSet xaia yrjv" 7 

St' axetpoa-uvYjv aXXou @iotoj 8 

xoux dxoSei^tv twv uxb yat'ag 9 

puQoiq b* aXXux; ipspo^eaOa. 

Hipp. 177. 
O scourges and sorrowful plights of humanity ! 

What shall I do for Thee? What shall I not? 
Thine is the splendor bright ; 
Thine is the radiant light ; 
And pleased may Thou be with the poor cot's equipments 

Outside of those structures — 
Since all of my speech to Thee was to come hither. 
Soon to thy mansions Thou'lt speed back, for quickly 
Thou f allest and no special one makest happy : 
Nor does the mere present content Thee ; Thou pointest 

A future that's dearer, 
And that it is better to suffer than serve. 
Thine is the all that is simple ; and with it 
Is manual labor joined, sorrow of mind, 
The all that is onerous in man's existence ; 
And rest there is none from those sufferings sore ! 
But whatso the other more loved part of Life is, 
The darkness set round Him conceals in the clouds : 
Still, we who are His, his adorers, are striving 
To show that it spreads its refulgence on earth ; 
And 'tis through another life's misunderstanding, 
And not through the teachings of those passed away, 
That we are interpreted wrongly in words. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 171 



NOTES. 

1. T KAKA TNHTQN ZTVrEPAl' TE 

NOZOI. 

He first points out the Name. 
'lr]<rovs (ENOZ) has the tpiyyos; 
Xpi<rr6s (EPAIT) has the \ap,irpbs alBi\p. 

2. EPAITENOI is his koItt, vocepd (EPA 
ITENOZ); all outside of this are mere 
equipments that signify "Come hither". 

3. Now taking the Name, and arranging 
all outside it in accordance with the 
"Come hither" suggestion, we have ot 
(01) on the right, and on the left Sevpo 
( OKAK), ivOi (ATNE) and ra X ^s 
(T0NITVI-). 

The key verse will consequently read : 
flKAK A0NH TQNZTVr EPAIT ENOZ 01 

devpo ivde Tax^ws, Xpttrros 'Itjo-oOs, ot 
Oh ! Christ Jesus, come hither soon ! 

4. Christ came and died for no one man, 
but for all. 

5. The two natures, of our Lord are pointed 
out. He lived, labored, suffered, died : 
He was true man. 

6. He was also true God; but his divine 
nature was concealed from a world that 
"knew him not". 

7. tovto — the "(pLXrepov &XXo" 5 or divinity 
of Christ. 

8. #\\ou fiiSrov — the pagan life. 

9. rwv virb yalas — of Homer, Hesiod, and 
other poets of the past, who wrote the 
truth. 



Cipher Reading. 



I-TI-NOVT, TIIAIOIAI; 
nrPTIIT, IVAZPAI-IT EPAIT. 
rillOA IT-ENOTV. 



OIAAIA, ATNE, 
TOA-IZ-TV-r. 



72 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



CHAPTER IX. 
Selections (Greek). 

Hesiod. Works and Days. 1-201. 

The selection consists of two parts, one pointed (which is 

now discussed), the other unpointed, and the subject matter of 

the former is illustrated by the AOIAEII KAE of the first verse. 

Scheme: After a magnificent exordium, he utilizes "Eris" to 

unfold a portion of the picture (AEZI) in which he 

graves the Name, and then enlarges it to AOIAEII KAE 

in order to grave the same name in different ways. 

Having indulged in some caustic pleasantry at the expense 
of the pagan crowd whose eyes are blinded to the cipher, and 
whose understanding is dulled to poetic intent, he proceeds to 
hoodwink it further by making an anagram that (to Christian 
intelligence) naturally leads up to the story of Adam and Eve, 
their sin, and the dire consequences thereof to succeeding genera- 
tions. 

Mouaat nteptTjOev, aotBfjat xXetouaat, 
Seiixs, At' evvexexe acpexepov xaiep' u^vetouaat, 
ovte Sta @poxot av8pe<; 6[i6)q ayaxoi te tpaTOt re, 
QY]TOt •:' appTQTOt ie A to? ^eyaXoto extqti* 
5 §sa txsv yap @ptaet, gia Be ^ptaovxa ^aXexret, 

gela 8' dpt^TjXov {xtvuOet xat aBrjXov aiqei, 
Qzia Be t' t'Ouvet axoXtbv xat ayqvopa xapcpet 
Zeu? u^t^pejxeTTQi;, oq uxepxaxa Sw^axa vaiet. 
KXuOt tBwv atwv ts, ot'x^ 0' iGuve 6e^taTa<; 
10 tuvyj- eyci) Be xe, Ilepar), eTTQru^a (xu6T)aat'[rr)v. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 173 

Pierian Muses, hailed in song sublime, 

Come, chant in words of praise our Father, God, 

Through whom exist, by grace of the Most High, 

Our brother men, the low, great, quick and dull ; 

Since 'tis no task for Life magniloquent, 

Who dwells in home of furthest distances, 

To make man strong, and sap the strong man's strength, 

To fell the mighty, elevate the low, 

Chastise th' unrighteous one, and blast the proud. 

Oh ! hear me thou that sight and judgment hast, 
And rectify my themes with good intent : 
Then, Perses, I may haply speak the truth. 



174 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Oux. apa ^jlouvov erjv 'EptSwv yevo<;, dXX' Ixl yalav 
elal 8ug). tt)v ^jlIv xev exaivsaaeis voiqaa<;, 
ig 8' IxifLW^TjTiQ. 8id 8' avBt^a 0u^bv e'x 0Uff v - 
tq |xev yap xoXs^ov xe xaxbv xal Sfjpiv dipeXXet, 

x 5 aiexXie' ouziq x^v ye q>iXet £>poxo<;, dXX' ux' dvdyxfl 
dOavdxwv @ouXjjc7iv "Eptv xi^wat (iapecav. 
tt)v 8' exspTjv xpoxepTjv txev eyeivaxo Nu£ tpeBevviq, 
07jxe 8e ^tv Kpovc'Siqs u^t'^uyoq, atOept, vatwv, 
yatT)<; t' ev pt'^yjac xal dvSpdac xoXXbv djJ-sc'vG). 

20 ^ ts xal dxdXa^ov xep o^wq ixl Ipyov iyefpei* 
e!g exepov yap ziq xe i8<jv epyoto ^axt'^wv 
xXoiiatov, 6 axeu8et \xev dpw^evac iq8e ipuxeuetv 
olxov x' eu OeaOai" tj)Xoi 81 xe yelxova yefxwv 
ziq a<psvov axeuSovx'* dya0Y] 8' "Eptg 758s ^poxoTai. 

25 xal xepajj.eu? xepa^el xoxest, xal xexxovi xexxtov, 
xal xxw^bq xxw^w <p0oveei, xal doi8b<; dotSw. 

T Q nipar), au 8: xaOxa xew Ivixdx0eo 0u[xu>, 
p]8e j' "Epi? xaxoxapxo? dx' epyou 0u[xbv epuxot 
vefxe' dxcxxeuovx* dyopfji; ixaxoubv iovxa. 

30 wpt) ydp x' 6XcyY) xeXexat vetxewv x' dyopewv xe, 

The issue of our strifes was not alone; 

But on the surface two of them there are. 

The reasoning mind will surely praise the one ; 

The other is deserving of reproach : 

And in two ways they occupy the thought. 

For one, the ill-disposed, assistance gives 

To warring tactics, breaking up of ties; 

And while no brother soul with eyes of love 

Esteems it, still, through fixed designs of gods, 

This rough strife they perforce respect. 'Twas raised 

Before the other by archaic night ; 

And time's all-guiding, ether-dwelling son 

Has placed the same in earth's roots and in men. 

Rough though the work, this eggs it on far more : 

For whosoever craves such work, and sees 

That other filled with fortune's gifts, he hastes 

To delve and plant and build him well a home ; 

And neighbor vies with neighbor racing on 

To wealth : for brethren, strife like this is good. 

And potter vies with potter, wright with wright, 

Beggar with beggar, and the bard with bard. 

O Perses, take those words to heart : let not 
That treacherous strife debar from work your mind 
When watching close the strivings of discourse. 
For whom (though brief the space of strifes and words), 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 



75 



NOTES. 
AEZI 

1 On yaTa there are two forms of "Egcg 
'AEZ, AEZI); the first is good (from 
the cypher point of view) ; the second is 
blamable (since the reader has to resort 
to such wily tactics and sundering of ties 
as are observable in using Zl for E, and 
Efor Til or I). 

2 This second helps ko.k6s Tr6\e/jLo$ and Srjpcs ; 
and Christian brethren resort to this 
rough mode of cyphering, not through 
love for it, but through necessity and 
the injunctions of those who framed and 
initiated the cypher. 

3 "Eqs^oq engendered it — dark writers have 
preferred it to the other and simpler form; 
and the Kgovidag or vipl&yog "Hoiodog, 
who dwells in alftiqQ, has placed it in QiCai 
yaing and in a»v8Qsg. 

4 Through such cyphering (ungainly though 
it be) it is possible for one yeiruv (AEZ) 
to build up SaXiJ/i, and for another yefrwv 
(AEZI) to build SaXifct also. Those two 
combinations of "the home" are em- 
phasized by a series of dual illustrations, 
thus:— 

nXaazcog vies with nXaorwQ 

(AEZ, AEZI) 
tsxtcov with TEXXCOV, 
7ixa>xog with mcoxog, 

and aoiUs with doi56s. 

5 Perses, as a brother of Hesiod, is a pure 
creation of commentators, and wholly 
without foundation — unless, indeed, that 
all men are brethren. The context shows 
plainly that he is the christian reader who 
has a knowledge of the truth and of the 
cypher, and flEPXEZ points Xpi<TTiav6s. 
The christian Perses is admonished, when 
looking at ve'iKe* ayopijs (AEZI), not to 
pass by this deceitful "E^ (note 1) yet. 
Why? Because, small though the space be 
oiveixrj and ayoQai (AEZI), in that same 
space is 'Itjitovs Xpurrds — and he who 
does not see this Eternal Life in full 
("wgaTog") is only a lump of clay (Atj^tb- 
qos axxrjv). 



Cipher Reading. 



AIE-ZI; 

AIEZ, Al-ni-ZI. 



AIEAAI AIIVAZTVI, AETVI. 



AIIIATV-XI. 

AIIIVATVNII, AIIVATVVTI A1IIAVTV-TI, 
AI-TI-IVII; AIEZI 
A-TI-IIVII, AIIIAZNII. 

AI-KTVNI, 
AI-VA-IVINI. 
AIIKNIZI, AI-IAI-AINII. 



AIVAIAIIAI, AI-VANIAAI 
AIIAIAINI, AIIIANI-ZI; 

Ainrrv, AnrAAi; 

AI-IAZTV, AIIIAZ-ZI. 



riEIONIIZTV. 
AI-TI-iNII AIIIAZIVII. 



AI-TI-INII, AIIVAZ-ZI. 
AII-TI-TVI AIIKZTVI. 



176 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

<b Ttvi ^<] $ioq evoov lxY]£xavb<; xaxdxetxat 

cjpaloq; xbv yodoc cpepet AYjp^xepo? dxxiqv. 

Tou xe xopeaad[xevo<; ve(xea xcd dfjptv diplXXot 6 

x Tinas' ex' dXXoxp(ot<r aol 8' ojx exc oeuxepov e'cxiv 
35 d)3' IpSetv. dXX' a50t StaxpcvwixsOa velxoq 7 

cOst^at Btxatq* a't'x' ex At6q etaiv aptaxat. 

"Hot) ^ev yap xXrjpov eoaoaajxeO', aXXa xe xoXXd 8 

dpxd^wv etpopstq, (xeya xuoacvwv (taacXfjag 

Swpo^dyou*;, o't xi^voe oixtqv eOeXovxt Stxaaaav. 
40 Ntqxcoc ouce taaaiv oaw xXeov Y](juau xavx6q* 9 

ou8' oijov ev \x<x\&xji xe xal dacpooeXw [xey' ovetap* 10 

xpiiipavxe? yap e'^ouat Geot @(ov dvOpioxocat. 

■pTQt'Sfox; ydp xev xat ex' fjjJiaxi epydcaato 

toaxe ce x' ef<; eviauxbv e^etv, xal depybv eovxa* 
45 atyd xe xYjodXtov (xlv uxep xaxvoti xaxaOeto" n 

e'pya @ocov 8' dxoXoixo xal tq^iovcov xaXaepywv. 

"AXXa Zej<; expose ^oXwad^evo? <ppeatv fjctv 12 

oxxt (JLtv e^axdxYjae IIpojJt.Y)Oeij<; d7XuXo^xY]<;, 

xou'vex' ap' dvGpwxotatv ejnqaaxo xi]cea Xuypd. 

For whom does the Eternal Life within 
Unripened lie ? Earth bears that man a clod ! 

The one who's glutted with such work can help, 
From outside sources, strivings and dispute 
(But work you must not as you did before). 
One other mode of wrangling, furthermore, 
We must determine in straightforward ways; 
And those from life arising are the best. 

Rejoice you may! the heritance we've shared: 
And many other things you filched and took, 
Delighting much those lords athirst for gifts, 
Who willingly have justified this way. 
The unsuspicious do not understand 
In what way half is greater far than all ; 
Nor do they know what food, great food for thought, 
Is stored in mallow and in asphodel — 
Because gods hid therein hold Life for men. 
And since you might toil daily at the work 
So careless as to keep you occupied 
A whole year long, and be without results, 
O'er vapor put the helm down quick — and then 
Are ended tasks of steers and patient mules. 

Life, troubled much in thought, hid other things. 
Because a crafty mind beguiled himself, 
He therefore planned some grievous woes for men. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERBIL, OVID, ETC. 



177 



10. 



NOTES. 

AOIAEII KAE 

When sated with the true wealth of 
AEII, we can help the same by taking 
additional letters from either side, thus: 
•I^ffows XpurrSs (IAEZI, OlAEZI, 

AEIIK. AEZIKA) ; 

and 'laeaovs Xpeicrrbs (AOIAEII, 

AEZIKAE). 
Another mode of pointing the Name is 
now indicated — the straight one, as 
seen in T^o-oOs (I0IAE, IAEZII, IAEZIK), 

and in Xpurrds (Z I KAE, EZIKA, IAEZIK). 

Of those, IAEZIK (it points^ Ai6s) is 
best, since it points both "Jesus" and 
"Christ" 

He has shared out the Name of the 
Lord ; and "The Lord is the portion of 
my inheritance". Ps. XV. 5. Many other 
combinations of the Name can be plun- 
dered (as he says ) from AEZI and its 
surroundings. 

The vrjirioi ( AEZI ) do not know how 
"the half is greater than the whole", 
remarks the poet with sarcastic humor; 
but the cultured christian does, for he 
sees how rf[u<rv (AEZI ) is greater than 
irdv (EZI), and knows how "the Eternal 
Life" is greater than the rb irdv which 
He created — He whom EMIZV points. 
Nor do those unsuspecting pagans (for 
the 'Vijirioi" combination points idvq) 
know how fiaXdxv and a<r<p6de\os (A0I- 
AEZI) hide the xP UJTLaV0 ^ who have'Iae- 
<roOs Xpei<rr6s, ( note 6 ) — yes, and have 
'ItjctoOs Xpiarbs, "the Life for men". 
He tells us to put iri]M\iov over ko.ttv6s, 
as a guide. The first of those is readily 
made from AOIAEZI (using for A); 
the second also, by taking A or IA for K. 
Xpia-Tiavot will then be formed from 
either of the two combinations, and 
differently from the marginal one in 
note 10. 

This done, the reader may be said 
to have mastered the intricacies of a 
cypher over which its framers worked 
with the persevering strength of oxen 
and the drudgery of mules. 

AEZI 
The x°^ w ^s 'Hcriodos hides other things 
in this picture of his, and (spurred by 
professional craft) plans k^Stj \vypd for 
his readers — "woes" for men who ren- 
der him right (since they read the 
miseries attending the sin of our first 
parents), and for men who render him 
wrong ("since they are puzzled to recon- 
cile his statements with reason and with 
what they know of truth. 



Cipher Reading. 



IIAETVI lAriTTVI, OIIAEII OlAriTZI, 
AEZIVA AIZAAIIA, AIEZ-IIA-A 
AIZAA-IIA-A; 
AOIIAEZI AOIAriTZI, 
AIEZ-IIA-AE AEZIKAdl. 



lOIIAni (0=E), l-AI-ZAAII, 
l-AI-ZAA-IIA. 

tvi i-aa-i rr, rn n i i v-aa, i Ai-n izi va. 

lAfll Zl-K. 



lAniNii 



AII-TI-ZI, 

niNii. 

EMITVV TTAAIZV. 

IA-ENII 

IAOIIA-ni-ZI, TIOIAirirTAI (0=A). 

AOIIAIKZNII. 

IAO-IAI-ni-ZI IAOIA-ril-AAI (IAI=Z). 

iAO-iA-nrNii. 
Ko-iA-nrNii. 
lAOiAnriMii. 



AIIVAVTNII, note 3. 

AEIVII AfirAAI. 



178 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

50 xpu^e 8e xup - to \ikv aOxtc. iuq xat<; 'Iaxexoto 13 

exXeij/ dvOpioxotat Atbq xdpa pnrjxioevxoc, 
ev xotXw vdpGiqxt, XaGwv At'a xepxtxlpauvov. 
xbv 8e /oXwaa^evoi; xpoaeipY] vetpeXrjyepexa Zeuq* 

'IaxextovtOT}, xdvxtov xept ^Bea etStoq , 14 

55 X<ztp e <? xup xXe<j>ac xal e^ac, cpplvac. igxepoxeuaaq. 

cot x' auto) (xlya xf)[xa xat dvopdatv ejao^evoiai 
xotc 0' eyu> dtvxt xupbc. Bcoaw xaxbv d) xsv axavxe? 
xepxwvxat xaxa 6u^.bv ebv yt.aY.hv d^ayaxtovxsc. 

"Qc. e<pax'* ex 8' eyeXacae xaxTjp dvSpwv xe Gewv -re - 15 

60 "Hipataxov 8' exeXeuae xsptxXuxbv xxc xdxtaxa 16 

yalav u'Ssi tpupetv, ev 8' dv6pa>xou Ge^ev auStjv 
xat cOlvot;, dGavdxotq oe Geotc, elq uia etaxetv (a) 

xapGevtxijq xaXbv elSoc, exiqpaxov auxdp 'A6tqvt)v 
e'pya SiBaaxTJaat, xoXu8at'8aXov iaxbv ucpat'vetv (b) 

65 xat x«pw d^txeat xecpaXfj xpu<re?)v 'AippoSfxiqv, (c) 

xat xoGov dpyaXeov xat yuto(3dpouc. ^eXecd)va<; - (d) 

ev 8e Ge^ev xuveov xe vdov xat extxXoxov iq6o<; (jf) 

'Epjxet'av Tjvwye, Btdxxopov 'Apyet<pdvxT]v. 

Fire first he hid ; but aptitude's good son 
Stole it in turn within a hollow reed, 
Stole it for human kind from planning life, 
Stole it unknown to thunder-loving life. 
Then troubled, cloud-collecting life spoke thus: 

"O son of aptitude, past master in 
The skilled contrivances of all, thou'rt glad 
At having stolen fire and snared my thoughts. 
But I shall give instead of fire that which 
Will prove a great vexation to thyself 
And men to come — a piece of wickedness 
With which, 'tis possible, they'll all be pleased, 
Loving, as each one lists, his own decoy." 

Thus he: then laughed the sire of men and gods; 
And ordered far-famed Vulcan quick to mix 
Moisture with eartn, instil man's sound and might, 
And liken to immortal gods in look 
The beauteous, charming figure of a maid : 
He then bade Pallas teach her household tasks 
And how to ply the nice constructed loom : 
And haloed Venus to pour o'er the head 
Beauty, capricious wish, fatiguing cares : 
And Hermes, Argus-slaying messenger, 
To graft a dogged mind and taking way. 



FN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 179 



Cipher Reading. 



AinriAII, AII-VA-NIIVII. 

iAi-n-zi Ai-nzi 

AIIAIAIIAII, AIVATVZI. 
IAI-rrAAI IAIIAIVINII, 
AI-IAI-AINII. 



NOTES. 
AEII 

13. He hides 4>\6yes or cppives, "the fire of 
disires": it is found by the evs ttcus 'Ia- 
■n-eTov or Xpl&Tios, and is plundered for 
wvdpes (note 3 J in koTXos vdpdi]^ from the 
fj.i]TiC}v. Hesiod — but " not with his con- 
sent" (\adibv), since taking V for A (in 
the va.p6tfe combination) is a mode of 
"plundering that no poet, speaking with 
the voice of authority (repwiKip), can 
openly sanction ! 

14. Complimenting the apt pointer on his ingenuity so far, he laughingly declares 
that he will test him further by an anagram. In approaching such, we should 
have some definite idea of the intent, location and subject matter; and the poet is 
not sparing on all three points. The irrnxa, tcaicbv, ve^eX-qyepira and iyiXacrire 
are sufficient tokens of his intent, since an anagram is considered a torment by 
readers, a piece of wickedness by literati, and a source of mystifying pleasantry 
by its author: the location is pointed out by avrl rrvpbs , because the Kaicbv , if it 
takes the place of "the fire" (as he says it does), must reside in "the fire" com- 
bination or AEII, which is now specified by p-tya. wijp.a (IAI=TI=IAII): and light is 
thrown upon the subject matter by the context which is evidently occupied by the 
first man and woman. 

15. As every work of art has first to be thought out, and then made, so do lines 60 
to 68 represent, the opus creationis, and 70 to 80 the opus formationis. The four 
consecutive steps of an anagram are marked by appropriate agents, viz. : con- 
struction by Vulcan the architect ; arrangement by Minerva, the goddess of or- 
ganized procedure ; adornment by Venus and the Graces ; speech by Mercury. 

16. Our poet's conception of the p-tya irij/xa. : 

(a) While man was made of slime (earth and moisture), woman was made out 
of this personfication of strength and speech; or (as Randolph puts it) 

"Yours was the nobler birth ; 
For you of man were made, man but of earth," 

(b) "Women act their parts 

when they do make their ordered houses know them." Knowles. 

(c) "Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye, 
In every gesture dignity and love." Milton. 

(d) "Why, what a wilful, wayward thing is woman !" Francis. 
"Nought can to peace the busy female charm, 

And if she can't do good, she must do harm." Lamb. 

(f) "He is a fool, who thinks by force or skill 

To turn the current of a woman's will." Tuke. 
"There is a something more than witchcraft in them 
That masters even the wisest of us all." Rowe. 



^o THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

"Q<; £<pa0'' ot §' lxc'0ovxo Act Kpovcwvi avay.ii. 

70 auxc'xa §' ex faf-r^ xXaaas xXuxbq 'AjJupcyu^eK; 17 

xap0£va> aioofy TxeXov Kpovc'Seco 3ta (3ouXd<;' 
^d>ae oe xat x6a^Y]ae Oed yXauxwxcq 'AGtqvtq* 18 

d^jupi ce ot Xdptxeq xe 0eai xat xoxvia IleiGw 19 

opjjtouq XP U<J£ ^ 0IJ ? eOeaav xpot, a\K(p\ Se xiqv ye 

75 7 Qpai xaXXcxo^ot cxepov dvGsatv ecaptvocar 

xdvxa oe 01 xpo' xoa^ov ecp-qp^oce IlaXXd? 'AGtqvt]' 

ev §' dpa 01 axT}0eajt ocaxxopo? 'ApyetcpovxTQ? 20 

<|>euBea 0" al^uXcouq xe Xoyoug xal Ixc'xXoxov -qOog 

x£l)s£ Acoq ^ouXfjai @apuxxuxou. ev 8' dpa tpwvrjv 21 

80 Gfjxe 0e(Lv xY)pu£, dv6[jLY)ve Be xiqvSe yuvacxa, 

IlavotopTjv, oxt xdvxeg 'OXu^ixia Sw^ax' e^ovxes 

6d>pov eowpYjaav, xfj^i' dvSpdatv dXcpYjaxfjatv. 

auxdp exec BoXov acxuv dp^avov I^STeXeffffev, 22 

ei? 'Ext^YjOea xe^-xe xaxrjp xXuxbv 'ApyetcpovxTjv 

85 Swpov a7ovxa, 0ed>v xa^uv dyyeXov ouo" 'ExipjOeui; 23 

lippdaaO', ax; ot eetxe IipotxYjOeiK; p^xoxe owpov 
oesaa0ai ^dp ZTjvbt; 'OXu^xt'ou, dXX' dxoxe^xetv 

He spoke ; and they obeyed time's lordly son. 
From clay, according to the time-born's wish, 
The far-renowned Amphiguean shaped 
Her quickly like unto a godly maid : 
Keen-eyed Minerva cased and set her right : 
Supernal graces and soft suasion placed 
Rare pendants near her skin, and crowned she was 
With spring like floss by hours with wavy curls, 
(But all adorning to the flesh itself 
Pallas Minerva fitted close and well) : 
And, through the plans of castigating life, 
The Argus-slayer framed within her breast 
Pretences, wheedlings and a taking way. 
Right then the herald of the gods put forth 
His voice and called the woman by her name — 
This all-endowered one (since all the gods 
Who have Olympian homes gave her a gift), 
This woe for men existing from the first. 
But when this rare and matchless piece of art 
He had devised, to Epimetheus then 
The author sent the gods' quick messenger, 
The Argus-slayer, and with him this gift. 
Nor kept this Epimethus well in mind, 
As told him by Prometheus, ne'er to take 
A present from Olympian life, but back 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 181 



NOTES. 

17. AEZi 

Our poets' formation of the p.iya Trij/jia ; — 
The dfj.(pL-yv^€ts mixes ya?a and #5os, 

instils the avdr) and adivos of dvi)p or 'AScfyi, 

and from this "Adam" or "clay" moulds 
a ded Kotipr) or Eva. 

18. IlaXXds gives her irruffis and rd&s — 
"case" and "order", that change the 
Euo combination into Evav. 

19. Each dea Xdpts (AEZ, IEZI, AEZI), the 



irbrva UeiBiI), and each "fipa (AE, EZ,TZI) 
beautify her ; the first two give her the 
pending acute accent and soft breathing; 
the others deck her with the wavy, 
springlike circumflex ; the result is 
EMv. Those grace marks are "near the 
skin"; Minerva's work ( the N ) is "at- 
tached to the skin itself." 
The 8idKTwp ' Apyei-(p6vTi)s grafts ypetibi), 



20. 



21. 



22 



23- 



Cipher Reading. 



Al-nZI— AI-VANI-Z 

(IAI=Z). 

AEIAII, AI-VA-IAINII, AIEN 

or AII-TI-IAII. 



AIE-ZI, Afl-IAAI 



ae-zi AnrAAi, Ai-n-zi 

AI-VA-AAIAII, AiniNII AI-IAZNII. 



AIENII. 

AI-TI-Z AIETV. 
AEAAI; 

ArriNii Ai-riTvi; Ai-rr 



ll-TI-ZI ll-TI-AAl, AE-ZI 
EAA, TAAI. 



AIVATV-ZI AIEIAII-AIIIAAANII: 

AIIANIIVII, 

IAIIAZIVII, AIIIAAANII, AIEZI. 



AII-TI-IAII AIENII AIEAAI. 



alfivXloi and KXeirrbv Tjdos within her. 

The anagram is now ready for results, 

and reads 

'A8dfx Eddv kAto, "Adam named Eve". 

"deCov KTjpvg' - - Adam, the first man, or 

"herald of the gods". 

"Havddiprjv" 

"Adorned 
With what all earth and heaven 

could bestow 
To make her amiable." Milton. 

"7r7j/x. av5. aKcp." "New Eves in all her 

daughters came, 
As strong to charm, as 

weak to err, 
As sure of man through 

praise and blame, 
Whate'er they brought 

him, pride or shame, 
Their still unreasoning 

worshiper". Moore. 

So far Eve has been considered object- 
ively; but, by sending her to Epimetheus 
with speech (Mercury), she assumes a 
subjective existence, and the anagram 
then reads ESa'ASdn k£\to "Eve tempted 
Adam" — for kA.o/«u signifies"to tempt"as 
well as "to call by name", and it must 
have been this dual meaning with its nice 
adaptation that prompted "iy£\a<r<re" . 
'Etti/h^. Man, when created, was Prometheus, the all-sufficient ego to himself, 
and possessed of immediate knowledge with the right and power of transmitting 
the same to his seed ; but when Eve ( the acme of heptamerous theogony, "Olym- 
pian life," or "creation's last and best") appeared upon the scene, the Promethean 
man became the Epimethean Adam, and forfeited this right and power by taking 
the gift which she tempted him to eat. 

Had the Epimethean Adam but pondered upon the wise counsels of the Prom- 
ethean man, says the poet, he would not have taken the apple. But he did — and 
pondered for ever after! 



Al-n-ZI AII-TI-IAII AIEAAI. 



182 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

i^oxiaw, \)J\ xou Tt xaxbv Ovrj-iotcrt yeviqxar 182 

auxacp o Besa^svog, oxs oyj xaxbv six', evokes. 
90 IlpwYjv (/iv t,ojsaxov k%\ xOovl cpuX' dvBpwxcov 24 

v6i(piv axep xe xaxwv xal axep xa~ke%o~io xovoto, 
vouawv x' dpyaXewv* ai'Q' dvSpaac xijpoi; s'Scoxav, 25 

afyayap iv xaxoxrjxt @poxol xaxayYjpaaxo uat. 
dXXa 7UVT) xeipeaat xi0oii ^sya xd)^' apsXouaa 26 

95 laxs'oaa', dvOpwxotat 8* S[AY]<iaxo xt]8sa Xuypd. 

txouvY) 8' a^xdGt 'EXxcq Iv dcppYjxxotai 86[Jioiatv 27 

evoov e[Li\hve xtOou uxb x e '^ eatv > °^ e Gupa'Cs 
Iss'xxy) - xp6j0ev yap exs^aXe xufjia xc'Ooto. 28 

atyto/ou ^ouXjjac Aibq vs^sXiqyspsxao 29 

100 aXXa os jxupta Xuypa xax' avOpwxou? dXdXrjxar 

xXsc'iq (jlsv ydp yacaxaxwv, xXset) 8s GaXaaaa, 
vouaot 8' dvOpcoxocjtv I9' t^epfl tj8' ext vuxxc 
aiix^axc ipotwat xaxa Gvyjtoccc <pepouaac 
atyfj, exel (pwvrjv i^eiXexo ^rjxcsxa Zeus- 

105 ouxw? ouxt xtj saxt Aihq v<$ov l^aXsaaOat. 30 

To thrust it from him, lest perchance some ill 
Should happen to the race of mortal men. 
But when he took and suffered ill — he thought ! 

'Twas long ago, indeed, they lived on earth, 
A race of beings by themselves, removed 
From wrongs, hard labor and diseases dread. 
Oh ! would they gave those destinies to men ; 
For in misfortune brethren quickly age. 
But when the woman with her hands removed 
The mighty cover (give good heed!), she let 
Them go at liberty — and grievous woes 
Were then occasioned for the human race. 
Then Hope alone remained within the house 
('Neath lips closed tightly give it proper heed!) 
Among the tribes that steadfast ever proved; 
Nor fled it out of doors, for from the first 
Upon the cover did it stamp "Believe !" 
Through life's free will then — darkened, lordly life's — 
Did countless other woes encompass men : 
For, when wise Providence withdrew His voice, 
Then full of ills was earth, and full the sea, 
Then dire automatous diseases stalked 
With stealthy steps the livelong day and night, 
Freighted with maladies for mortal kind. 
So — 'tis not well to cross the will of God ! 



IN HOMER HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 183 



NOTES. 



27 



24. The story of our first parents. 

25. "Would that they had transmitted their 
primal bliss and innocence to men !" — 
but they did not. aid' (or air' as Hesiod 
wrote the word) with a past tense of the 
indicative denotes a wish that is incon- 
sistent with the known result. 

26. ju^ya irwfi' — the apple, that mighty cover 
against death and all our woe, so long 
as it remained unplucked from the tree 
of knowledge. 

"Mind (iridov) that fiiya ir&ixa (AEIl) " 
says the poet, in allusion to the prfhov 
contained in the same combination (an 
instance where E is divided into ITZ). 
After the Fall, the world at large lapsed 
into idolatry, and all that remained for 
the faithful upon earth was' E\7r/s (AEI I) 
or Christ Jesus, the promised Redeemer 
who abided in the house ( evbov ) of 
'Ioi/5as (AEII) among the Jewish tribes 
that continued in steadfast allegiance to 
the true God. 

To this house the poet invites attention 
by saying "Give it an understanding but 
no tongue '*. 

This hope in a Messiah never left the 
world (as testified in Genesis, Job, Isaias, 
and all through the Scriptures) ."It could 
not leave", exclaims the poet with strik- 
ing ferver; "for the same Hope that 
planned the tree of knowledge had grafted 
"Believe!" upon its fruit". 
/3oi>\]7<n alyibx- "Adam's free will", as 
marked by the plural, since will ( to be 
free ) implies a will for and a will against 
every dictate. 

"For his eyes are upon the ways of men, 
and he considereth all their steps'' 

Job. XXXIV. 21. 



29 



30 



Cipher Reading. 



IAI-TI-IAII IAI-niAII 
AI-rAANII (AII=M) 



AEAAI. 



AIVAZ-D. 



I. THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

[The introduction of Adam and Eve prepares the way for the 
unpointed portion of a story which is, in the main, a close outline of 
the scriptural narrative. 

He sketches in detail five races of intelligential beings, two of which 
are postdiluvial, two more prediluvial, and another (the Golden and 
first of all) which extended from pre-Adamite time to the age of Man. 
When describing the second — that in which the Saviour was first 
promised to man — he dexterously weaves in the life of Christ up to 
the point where "His own received him not," and waits for the fifth 
(in which the Saviour was destined to come on earth) in order to 
resume the further thread of this particular discourse. In this fifth 
he prophesies the general destruction of the world, and utters a re- 
markable series of predictions relative to the seizure, trial, death and 
ascension of our Lord.] 



E! 5' eGeXeiq, exepov xot eyco Aoyov exxopixpuxru 
eu xal extaxajxevox;' au 8' eyl 9 peal (SdXXeo afjaiv 
0)q 6(JLo0ev yeydaac Geol Gvtjtoc x' av0pwxot. 31 

Xpuaeov [xev xpumaxa yevo? ^.epoxwv dvOpwxwv 32 

110 dOdvaxoi xotTjaav 'OXujnna o"u>f.ax' e^ovxet;' 3$ 

01 ^ev exl Kp6vou rjaav, ox' oupavo) e^aat'Xeuev* 
ware 6eol S' eXwov dxYjSeoc 0u[xbv e/ovxeq, 
voa<piv axep xe xovwv xal oityoq, ouoe xt SeiXbv 
yfjpaq exfjv. at'el 8e xooaq xal ^elpaq 6^' ot" ot 34 

115 xepxovx' ev OaXtyjac xaxcov exxoaOev dxdvxcov, 

Ovqaxov 0' o>q uxvw SeSpji/ivoi. eaOXd Be xdvxa 

xotatv eirjv xapxbv §' e<pepe ^elSwpoq apoupa 35 

auxo^dxT), xoXXov xe xal a<p0ovov* 01 8' eOeXYjyiol 



But, if you wish, another tale I'll sketch 
Deftly and well ; and ponder thou in mind 
How gods and mortals from one source have sprung. 

Men's master minds, who hold Olympian heights, 
Depicted pure as gold, and first of all, 
A race of beings with the gift of speech, 
Who were in time when time the Cosmos ruled ; 
Who lived, as gods should, with unruffled mind, 
All by themselves, removed from toil and woe, 
And no enfeebling age attended them. 
While some remained continuously pleased 
With movement swift and potency combined, 
Some more took pleasure in the living charms 
Of the unjust, the all unjust without, 
And corpse-like grew, entranced as 'twere by sleep. 
From those were all things worthy of renown. 
A womb, itself perfervid, bore a seed 
Mighty in stature, arrogant in soul, 



IN HOMER. HESIOD, VERGIL. OVID, ETC. 185 
NOTES 

31. All things — angels as well as mortals — were created by one and the 
same Maker. 

32. The Golden or Angelical Race. 

33. dvOpilbirwv ada.va.Toi — "the immortals, or master minds among men," 
the enlightened sages and theologians of the past. 

He does not say when the angels were created ; but "they flourished 
( 1jo~av ) when time reigned securely over the universe." According 
to the myth (which is fully explained in "The Gods of Old" p. 291 
et seq.), the reign of Kronos extended from the separation of Uranus 
to the battle of the Titans — that is, from the making of a firmament 
to the complete triumph of life; or, from the close of the Second 
Genesiac Day (ere yet the green herb appeared) to the beginning of 
the Sixth (that ended with the advent of man). 

34. 6/j.' ( for ofirj or 6fwv ) strengthens the force of xa.1 . Some of those 
angelic beings remained for ever pleased with their attributes of 
potency and celerity of movement : others grew charmed with tne 
pleasures of wicked men on earth. 

"The Sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, 
took to themselves wives of all which they chose. * * * 

The wickedness of men men was great on earth." Gen. VI. 2 and 5. 

35. "Now giants were on earth in those days. For after the sons of God 
went in to the daughters of men, and they brought forth children, 
these are the mighty men of old, men of renown." Gen. VI. 4. 

The wombs of their earthly partners (says the poet), naturally pro- 
lific, and perfervid through thoughts of their angelic wooers, bore in 
sympathy with those thoughts a race of men that evinced their pedi- 
gree on both sides by being unenviably great in stature and strength ; 
in knowledge, skill, and works of all kinds, mental and physical (ep7 ), 
that made them be looked up to by the ruling powers ( iMucdp. deolo-i ) 
of those outside their own class; and in wickedness. 

&<pdoi>os, "not envying, above envying or looking up to any one"; 
and hence, "looking down on, arrogant, contemptuous." Ovid says 
of the giants (Met. I. 160) "sed et ilia propago contemptrix superum;" 
and Baruch writes thus (III. 26), "There were the giants, those re- 
nowned men that were from the beginning, of great stature, expert in 
war." 

In verses 16-19 of the same chapter, Baruch (like Hesiod in verses 
119 and 120) hints darkly at a strange mesmeric influence exercised 
by the giants over the brute creation, and at an equally strange ac- 
quaintance on their part with aerial navigation, the transmutation of 
metals, and occult chemistry. 

The verses read thus : — 

"Where are the princes of the nations, and they that rule over the 
beasts that are upon the earth ? 

That take their diversion with the birds of the air? 

That hoard up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and there is no end 
of their getting? 

Who work in silver, and are solicitious, and their works are unsearch- 
able? 

They are cut off, and are gone to hell, and others are risen up in 
their place." 



186 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

rjjuxot epy' svs^ovto <juv ea0Xo!aiv xoXesactv, 

1 20 acpvecoc ^Xotac, 91X01 ^axapesac GeoTsc. 

auxap licet 8 Y) xouto ysvo? xaxa yata xdXu^ev, 
•cot [ih Sat^ovlq eicrt A tog ^syaXou Sea (iouXag 
laBXot, eict^Bovtot, cpiiXaxeq 6vy]t(I)V avOpioxcov 
oY pa 9uXaaaouatv xe 81'xag xat cxetXta epya, 

125 TQepa taca^evot icavcf) cpoixcovTe? ex' alav, 

xXouTOOoxaf xat touto yepaq (taatXiqtov ea/ov 36 

That, rich in flocks, revered by princely gods, 

Pursued in private and with ardent mind 

All kind of works, with many of renown. 

But when the earth this generation hid, 

Those are, through God Almighty's plans, the famed, 

Terrestrial, demon watchers of mankind, 

Who lie in wait for judgments, cruel deeds, 

Who, clad in air, rove through the world at large, 

Who riches give — this ruling gift they held. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 187 

NOTES. 

36. "All these," said Satan, pointing out the kingdoms of the world, their 
riches and their glory, to our Lord, "all these will I give thee, if 
falling down thou wilt adore me." 



Such, then, is the famous "Golden Race" of Hesiod ; and the reader 
cannot fail to observe the close concordance between the poet's words 
and those of Gensis VI. 1-4. 

While the consensus of opinion among modern theologians is that 
"the sons of God" (Gen. VI. 2 and 4) signify the descendants of 
Seth and Enos, there were, up to the twelfth century, many of the 
learned who either favored, inclined to, or did not deny the more 
literal rendering. Whether the same difference existed in Hesiod's 
day is unknown; but the poet (and he writes as if reflecting the 
opinion of "men's master minds") shows by his version that he him- 
self was a literalist. So also was the writer of "The Book of Enoch" ; 
and the following passage from it may prove interesting, throwing 
light as it does upon the concluding lines of Hesiod: — 

"Hear and fear not, Enoch, thou righteous man and writer of right- 
eousness : come hither and hear my words. Go speak unto the 
Watchers of Heaven, and say unto them, Ye shall pray for men, and 
not men for you. Why have ye forsaken the high and holy and 
eternal heaven, and have joined yourselves to women, and polluted 
yourselves with the daughters of men, and have taken to you wives, 
and have become the fathers of a giant race? Ye who were spiritual, 
holy, and enjoying eternal life, have corrupted yourselves with 
women, and ha^e become parents of children with flesh and blood: 
lusting after the blood of men, ye have brought forth flesh and blood, 
like those who are mortal and perishable. Because men die, there- 
fore did I give unto them wives, that they might have sons and per- 
petuate their generation. But ye are spiritual and in the enjoyment 
of eternal life : therefore give I not to you wives, for heaven is the 
abode of the spirits. 

And now the giants, who are born of flesh and blood, shall become 
evil spirits, and their dwelling shall be on the earth. Bad beings shall 
proceed from them. Because they have been generated from above, 
from the holy Watchers have they received their origin, therefore 
shall they be evil spirits on the earth, and evil spirits shall they be 
called. And the spirits of the giants, which mount upon the clouds, 
will fall and be cast down, and do violence, and cause ruin on the 
earth and injury: they shall not eat; they shall not thirst; and they 
shall be invisible." 



188 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Aeuxepov a6xe yevog xoXu ^etpoxepov ^sxoxtaOev 37 

dpyupeov xotYjaav 'OXufjixca Bto^ax' e^ovxeq, 
Xpuaeff) outs <puTjv IvaXc'yxiov ouxe voTj^ia. 

130 dXX' ixaxbv [/iv xalq exea xapa [XYjxepc xeBvjj. 38 

Ixpc'cpex' dxdXXcov, [/.eya vqxio?, <f) ^ vt o"*<p. 39 

dXX' ox' dtvTj^TQffete xat yj^yj<^ ^expov ixoixo, 
xaupfotov ^(oeaxov Ixl ^povov, aXye' I'^ovxeq 40 

a<ppa£c'f]<;*- u(Jpcv yap dxdaOaXov oux' eBuvavxo 41 

135 dXX^Xwv dxe'^eiv, ouB' dOavdxou? Gepaxeuetv 

tjOsXov, ouB' epoetv jAaxdpwv lepocq Ixc ^w^otq, 

7} Oi^t? avOpojxoici xax' rjOea. iouq [jlsv exeixa 

Zeu<; KpovfOY)? expu<}»£ y_o~kou\XEvoq, o3vsxa xt^a? 42 

oux' eot'Bouv [xaxapeaac 0eoi<; oS "OXu[jlxov e^ouacv 43 

14.0 auxap exec xat xoiixo ysvoq xaxd yala xdXu^e, 44 

xol jJtiv Lixo/Oovtot ^dxapeq Ovrjxoc xaXeovxca 
Beuxepof dXX' e^x^q xi^r) xal xotaiv oxYjBet. 

The minds who held Olympian heights described 
A second other, much inferior race, _ 

As silver bright to that which was to come, 
Like to the golden nor in parts nor thought. 
[But thriving side by side a mother kind, 
There was a Child with innocence in full, 
Hundreds of years maturing in his house. 
When grown He'd be and come to manhood's prime, 
A little while in time they'd pass through life 
Bearing the sorrows of man's heedless act : 
For 'twas not theirs to keep from off themselves 
The wanton violence of other men ; 
Nor did they wish to curry favor with 
Immortals, nor to sacrifice upon 
The sacred altars of those happy gods, 
As is the law for men by custom's right. 
Then put aside they were by life, time's son, 
Enraged because they did not pay respect 
To the blest gods who have the light themselves.] 
But when earth hid this generation too, 
Those favored mortals, who just missed success, 
Are called beyond all doubt the corner-stones : 
Yet, all in all, respect goes with them too. 



7A T HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 189 

NOTES. 

2,7. The Silver or Adamic Race. 

This second or "Silver Race" consists of Adam and Eve, who were 
bright as silver compared with the Brazen Race that followed 
( fieroirio-dev ) , but not equal in nature or mind to the Golden that 
preceded. 

38. Since the story of our first parents has already been told (vv. 99-104), 
he now proceeds to speak of the promised Christ and of the mother 
of Christ. 

39. v^irtos, the Latin infans, "not yet able to speak, childish, innocent." 
From the Fall of man to the Advent measured, according to scrip- 
tural chronology, 4004 years. During all those were the Son and 
his mother becoming more distinct and more sharply outlined to the 
faithful through prophecy after prophecy. The centuries, as Hesiod 
says, were maturing them in His own chosen race (the Jews) and 
in His own chosen house (Judah). 

40. A brief three years intervened between the beginning of Christ's mis- 
sion and his crucifixion. 

d\y 'exovres — "And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." 

Isa. LIII. 6. 

41. ouk' idijvavro — "Because I came down from heaven, not to do my 
own will, but the will of him that sent me." John VI. 38. 

42. Zei>s Kpovldris — the existing life of the day, the Jews. 

%npvfe — "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." 

John I. 11. 

43. fMK. deol . The priests and scribes (themselves the fortunate guar- 
dians of the light, for they had the Law and the Prophets) were the 
bitterest enemies of our Lord. 

44. Going back to "the Silver Race," he tells us that when Adam and 
Eve died, they (who could have won, but came out only second) 
were styled by succeeding generations "the founders" of mankind. 
As the foundation is to the structure raised upon it, so are Adam 
and Eve to the human race; and the foundation, to be secure and 
strong, must be below the surface, so are our first parents styled 
viroxOovioi. 



igo THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Zeus 8e xafrjp xpixov aXXo yevo? {Jiepoxuv avOpwxwv 45 
XaXxecov xot'rja', oux dpyupew ouSev o^olov, 

145 ex^is'Xiav, Betvov xe xal o^pt^ov* olatv "Aprjoq 46 

spy' e^eXe cxovoevxa xal uppteq. ouSe xi ctxov 
TQaTtwv dXX' aoa[AavToq e'xov xpaxepoippova 6u^4v, 47 

axX^xor [jLeyaXY] Be (Ji'yj xal x e 'pe? aaxxot 48 

et, di^wv exe9uxov exl cx^apolai ^eXeaaiv. 

150 Tot; 8' tqv x«Xxea (lIv xeu^ea, ^aXxeoi Be xe olxoc, 49 

XaXxw 0' e(pyd^ovxo* ^eXaq 8' oux ecxe ct'STjpoq. 50 

Xal xol \xkv /efpeaatv uxo <i<pexepflcn 8a^evxe<; 
^fjaav e<; euptoevxa Bo^ov xpuepou 'A?8ao, 
vwvu^vor Gdvatoi; Be xal exxdyXouq xep eovxas 51 

155 elXe [xeXaq, Xa[xxpbv 8' eXtxov (focoq iqeXioio. 

Then, third in order, did ancestral life 
Produce another race of voiceful men, 
In no way like the silver — hard as brass, 
Swarthy, despotic, fierce ; their only care 
The doleful works and ruffian acts of war. 
No hospitable cheer of any kind 
They spread for guest ; but, brooking no approach, 
A stubborn heart of adamant was theirs ; 
And great their violence, and rude the hands 
That from bared shoulders grew on brawny arms. 
Of brass their weapons, and of brass their homes ; 
In brass they worked ; the sword was seldom black. 
And yet, o'erwhelmed for deeds of theirs, they went 
Inglorious to the dank and dark abode 
Of icy-cold and subterraneous depths: 
A death dark, gruesome, took them as they were, 
And lost for ever was the sunlight bright. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 191 

NOTES. 

45. The Brazen or Antediluvian Race. 

Adam ( Zeis iraTTjp ) produced the third or "Brazen Race," the Ante- 
diluvian one whose violence and infamous wickedness determined the 
Creator to destroy it. 

The similes "fine as gold," "bright as silver," for the first two races, 
are continued for the third in the characteristic "hardness of brass." 

46. £K(ie~\iav. Such a rendering as "from ash trees" (£k /juiXiav , as 
the text books have it) deserves no notice — not even as a simile. 
The word is a compound one ( iKfifKias - aiva - av ), and an intensitive 
form of ne*\as (just as iK/xeXalvw is of ne\atvu), with an iota 
inserted for sake of metre. This iota is subject to transposition, since 
we find such recognized forms as iielXas and fiiXan, and here an 
additional form, p.e"\ias. So, too, we find i^ros, £etvos, t-tvioi. 

47. 7]<ttIu>v. earlov (as it was written by Hesiod) can be taken as the 
Imp. plural of eo-ndw "to entertain a guest," or of iadiui "to eat": 
the former is preferable since it harmonizes with the trend of his 
discourse; and sober reason must decide against an interpretation 
implying that the Antediluvians "ate no cereal food of any kind." 

48. p*y. ply - "The wickedness of men was great on the earth." Gen. VI. 5 
danroi {a-&irTos) "intractable." 

49. "Sella also brought forth Tubal-cain,who was a hammerer and artificer 
in every work of brass and iron." Gen. IV. 22. 

50. aiSripos . Their swords were seldom black — since, as a rule, they 
were red with the blood of those they slaughtered. So does Ovid 
say of the giants (under which name he classes the Antediluvian 
wicked), "Saevaeque avidissima caedis, et violenta fuit." To read 
"And black iron there was not" is inconsistent with the frequentative 
eaTce, with the subject matter (since the poet writes of men and 
their manners, not of mineralogy), and with the words of Genesis 
in reference to Tubal-cain. 

51. irep iovras. "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and 
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which 
Noah entered the ark. 

And they knew not till the flood came and took them all away." 
Matt. XXIV. 38, 39- 



192 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

AuTap exec xai touxo yevo<; xocta ycua xdXu^ev, 52 

ocutk; It' aXXo Texapxov ext x^ovl icouXupOTsfpfl 53 

Zeuq Kpov!Sv]<; xonrjas, Scxaidxepov xal apetov, 
avSpwv TQpwwv GsTov yevo<;, 0? xaXeovTac 

160 iQ^tGeot xpoxepfl yevefj xgct' dxecpova yatav. 54 

xal tou<; yilv xdXejjto*; xe xaxbq xac <puXoxc<; ouvrj 
Touq jiiv ecp' exTaxuXcp Oi^fl, KaSy,Y)tSt yatyj, 55 

wXeae jjuzpva^evouq ^-qXwv evex' OcBcxdSao, 
xou<; Be xal ev viqeaacv uxlp ^eya XalxfJia 0aXdaaY]<; 

165 eq TpotY]v ayaywv 'EXevYjg evex' tquxo^oco- 

ev0' tjxoi Touq [xev Gavdxou ie\oq djJupexdXinjje. 

toI<; Be ot'x' dvOpwxwv ^c'otov xal YJ0e' 6xdaaa<; 56 

Zeuq KpovloTjq xaxevaaae xaiYjp kq xecpaxa yaiYjq 

ttqXou dx' dGavdxwv Tolacv Kpdvo? e^aatXeuet. 

170 xal xot ^ev vacouaiv dxrjoea Gu^bv e^ovxeq 

Iv (xaxdpwv vrpotai xap' 'Qxeavbv ^a0uo(vY]v, 57 

SX^tot Yjpweq, TOtccv ^eXrqBia xapxbv 

xplq exeoq GdXXovxa <pepei ^et'Bwpoq apoupa. 

But when earth hid this generation too, 
The life existing on the glutted soil 
Brought forth again another race, the fourth, 
Observant more of what was just and good — 
A wondrous race of men of high emprise, 
Acclaimed as demigods by those who lived 
In former time upon an earth made new. 
And blotted out they were by cruel war 
And clannish strife that urged them on to fight — 
Some against seven-gated Thebes, in land 
Of Cadmus, for the wealth of Oedipus; 
Others, in ships o'er water's great expanse, 
To fight at Troy for fair-haired Helen's sake ; 
And more of them death's coil wrapped somewhere else. 
But all at variance with them, though compelled 
To imitate men's mode and ways, the life 
Of his own time was made to settle down, 
A people's father, on the skirts of earth, 
Apart from gods whom passing time enthralls. 
And dwelling in the isles of the elect, 
By the great circumambient ocean stream, 
With souls absolved from every care are they, 
Those heroes blest, for whom a generous womb 
Bears the thrice-swelling, honeyed fruit of time. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 193 
NOTES. 

52. The Heroic or Patriarchal Race. 

It was from Zeiis irarrip, "parent life" (Adam and Eve) that the 
Antediluvian race was sprung : it was from Zei>s Kpovldys, "existing 
life" after the Deluge, that the fourth or Postdiluvian one was de- 
scended; and this race, as the poet says, differed from the preceding 
by conforming more to the laws of justice and goodness. 

53. x^ ^ ttov\vPot. — Glutted with the slime, mud, and lifeless remains 
left by the retiring flood. 

54. The leaders of the "Heroic Race" were called "demigods," since they 
maintained over their dependants the power of ruling in civil affairs 
and of offering sacrifices. In other words, they were "the patriarchs" 
or prophet kings of Scripture, who exercised the rights of prince, 
priest and judge, direlpova, "inexperienced, fresh or new", as earth 
was, after the flood had destroyed all the old landmarks. 

55. The Theban war was one of kinsmen (0i5Ao7ris). A principle of 
justice, connected with this and with the Trojan war, distinguished 
them from the wanton violence of Antediluvian wars. 

56. One of those patriarchal rulers, Abram, differed from the rest and 
was reserved for another and more glorious destiny. He is briefly, 
but vividly described by the poet : 

(a) "The life of existing time" (Zeis Kpovld-qs): Abram was 
the life (in its better sense) of the Heroic Day, the moving spirit 
of the plan designed by Eternal Life. 

(b) "Who differed from others" ( roTs de Six ' ) : Josephus says of 
him, "He began to have higher notions of virtue than others 
had, and he determined to renew and to change the opinion all 
men happened then to have concerning God." 

(c) "Compelled to follow the manners and ways of men" ( dvOpdir. 

j8/or. /cat yd. dirdff. ) : whilst in Haran he lived in a fashion 
somewhat similar to other patriarchal rulers. 

(d) "Was bade to settle down as father of a race" ( Karivaa. varrjp) ; 
Genesis words it thus (XII. 1, 2), "And the Lord said to 
Abram: Go forth out of thy country and from thy kindred, 
and out of thy father's house, and come into the land which I 
shall show thee. 

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, 
and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed." 

(e) "On the confines of earth" ( is irelp. yaijjs ) : the Holy Land 
lies upon the confines of Asia Minor, and this upon the confines 
of Asia. 

57. There is no difference between "The isles of the Blessed" and the 
"Elysium" of classic writers, since each has been assigned the same 
location (westward and adjoining the vast, vapory stream flowing 
through space), and the same purpose (a place of detention and rest 
for the departed good), paicdpuv vr}<roi conveys the idea of island 
orbs or detached portions of space where dwelt the purified; 

ifKfaiov (through its derivation i\eti<rofiai"I shall come"), that of tempor- 
ary detention — till Christ would come: the two combined express all 
that is implied in "Limbo" or "Abraham's bosom" — a place of rest for 
those who, while purified from their sins, had still to wait (as 
"manes") for the Redeemer's coming before they could be admitted 
to heaven ; and this Redeemer, "the honeyed fruit of time," the 
spiritual womb of Mary was bearing through the three ages, Silver, 
Brazen and Heroic. 



[94 



THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



MrjxeV exetx' w<petXov eyw xe'^xxocac ^exetvac 58 

175 dvBpdaiv, dXX' r) xpoaOe 6avetv r) exetxa yeveaOar 59 

vuv 70:9 07] yevoq eaxc atBrjpeov. ou Be xox' r]^ap 
xauaovxac xa^dxou xal d'c'^uoc;, ouBe xc vuxxo)p 
^Oetpo^evot' xaXexds Be Oeoi Bwaouat {Jiepfjjivaq. 60 

dXX' eV xr J? xat T0 ' at ^e^i£exat eaGXd xaxoiatv. 

180 Zeus 0' oXeaet xal xouxo yevo? ^epoxwv dvOpwxtov, 61 

eux"' dv yecvo^ievot xoXtoxpoxa<poi xeXeOwaiv. 
ouBe xaxrjp xaiBeaaiv o^ottoq ouBe xi xaZBeg, 62 

ouBe sS'voq £ecvo86x(p xal exalpoq exac'pw, 
ouBe xaatyvTjxo? cp(Xo<; eaaexat, wq xb xdpog xep. 

185 atya Be yrjpdaxovxat; dxtuvqaouac xoxrjaq, 

^eji^ovxat B' dpa xouq yjxks.'zolq ^d^etv exeeaac. 

aXstXiot, ouBe 0ed>v oxtv eiBdxeq' ouBe xev o?ye 63 

yrjpdvxecjai xoxeuatv <xto Opexxrjpca Boiev, 

XetpoBcxat' exepo? B' exepou xdXtv IsaXaxd^ec. 64 

190 oiiBe' xiq eudpxou ^dpt? eacexat ouxe Btxat'ou . 65 

oiix' dyaGou* [xaXXov Be xaxd>v Qsxxrjpa xal u(}piv 66 

dve'pa xt^fjaoujf Bc'xrj B' ev x e P c7 ' * ai acBox; 67 

Oh that I were not 'mongst those men, the fifth, 
But earlier died, or flourished later on ! 
For iron, surely, is the race that's now. 
Nor once they'll pause from toil and care through day; 
Nor, the debauched, through portion of the night : 
Sore, sore the troubles that their gods will give ! 
Yet e'en for those will good be mixed with ill. 
But this race, too, of men endowed with speech 
Will Life destroy — when, likely, may appear 
Arisen those their temples streaked with gray. 
Nor sire, nor sons, will be a match for sons ; 
Nor cherished as of yore the guest by host, 
Comrade by comrade, nor the near of kin. 
Too quick they'll shame their parents bowed with age, 
And flout at them in words too harsh to tell. 
(Benighted those, who have not recognized 
The awe of gods ! Too violent are they 
Who'd give not due returns to parents old ! 
And one will blot the other's city out.) 
For Him, the Good, the Just, who's kept his oath, 
No favor, smallest favor, will there be ; 
But preference rather will they give to him, 
The evil-doer, the outrageous man. 
(Should Grace and Justice not be hand in hand?) 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 195 

NOTES. 

58. The Iron or Post-patriarchal Race. 

The Heroic Age, taking Samuel as the last of the priestly rulers, 
ended about 1060 B. C. All time after this date is classed by the poet 
as "The Iron Age." 

59. So as either to have lived with the patriarchs, or flourish when Christ 
would come. 

60. "O how the passions, insolent and strong, 
Bear our weak minds their rapid course along; 
Make us the madness of their will obey, 

Then die — and leave us to our griefs a prey." Crabbe. 

61. "For the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall be worn 
away like a garment, and the inhabitants thereof shall perish in like 
manner." Isa. LI. 6. 

So, too, does Ovid say (Met. I. 256) that the world will be destroyed 
by fire: 

"Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur, adfore tempus 
Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaque regia caeli 
Ardeat, et mundi moles operosa laboret." 

yeiv. iro\ioKp6r. Te\<?0. An allusion to the tradition prevalent among the 
Jews, and based on many scriptural passages, that the Day of Judg- 
ment would be heralded by the reappearance upon earth of Enoch and 
Elias. 

The phrase possesses further interest from a chronological point of 
view, since it tends to show that Hesiod could not have flourished 
prior to 896 B. C. — the year when Elias was translated up to heaven. 

62. "Manners with fortunes, humors turn with climes. 
Tenets with books, and principles with times." Pope. 

63. An opportunity for pointing the Name and for resuming the further 
story of our Lord is furnished the poet by the concluding words of 
verse 185 : — 

EIOVII TOKEAI 

Who looks at 6eQv 6ttis (IT-INIO VVT1) and fails to see ' Itj<to£/s (EIOVXI)? 

Who sees only TOKEAX and refuses to acknowledge 

X/)«<7t6j (TO-VA-EITAA) ? 

64. The "Jesus" combination blots out 2a\i^ (EI-OV-IAII) ,- the "Christ" 
one blots out 'leporiXvfia (TOIAIVATVAI). 

65. "Who has kept his oath" — by coming upon the earth. 

66. "Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas." Luke XXIII. 18. 

67. Another chance of pointing the Name is offered in 

TIMEXOVII 
Are not Mm? and aldds (T-IMTI — IIOVIAII) linked together in E or Til ? 
" 'Ir,cr6s " Xpurr&s (TITV-IT— INIOVIAII) " " "EorlTI? 



196 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

oijx eaToci; ^Xa^et 8' 6 xaxbg tov apelova iptoxa 68 

^u0otat axoXiocq evexwv, exl 5'opxov d^elxai* 69 

*95 ^)Xo<; 5' av0pa>xotaiv diXupotaiv axaatv 70 

BuaxsXaSo?, xaxd^apToq 6 [xa preset, CTUYepwxT)?. 

xat tots 3tj xpbq "OXu^xovaxb x9° v ^ eupuoSeiTjs 71 

Xeuxotatv (papseaai xaXu^a^lvw XP° a "^^Xbv 

aGavdxcov ^eia cpuXov tvov xpoXixdvT' dv0pwxou<; 

200 AiSax; xat Newest?. ia Se Xstyexat aXyea Xuypd 72 

OvtjtoIc; dvOpwxoici' xaxou 8'oux eaaexat aXx-q. 73 

The wicked light, that speaks with crafty words, 

Will hold the better Light, and falsely swear ; 

And envy's self, that's clamorous in tongue, 

In mind malicious, and in visage lean, 

Will be the comrade of those wretches all. 

Then up to heaven from the wide-wayed earth, 

With beauteous outline wrapped in snow-white garb, 

And 'midst a galaxy of godlike forms, 

Go Grace and Retribution, leaving men. 

And bitter woes for mortals will be left; 

But evil's innate strength will cease to be. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 197 
NOTES. 

68. p\d\(/ei. "But they laid hands on him, and held him." Mark XIV. 46. 

6 KaKbs — the priests and scribes, "the wicked light," since they had the 
Law and Prophets. 

69. fuud. o-KoX. Here is one instance. "Is it lawful for us to give tribute 
to Caesar, or no?" Luke XX. 22. 

iiro/xetrai — "And some rising up, bore false witness against him." — - 
Mark XIV. 57- 

70. "For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him up out of 
envy." Mark XV. 10. 

71. "And it came to pass, whilst he blessed them, he departed from them, 
and was carried up into heaven." Luke XXIV. Si. 

72. NV/ueo-is. " Because he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge 
the world in equity." Acts. XVII. 31. 

73. "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body 
of sin may be destroyed, and that we may serve sin no longer." 
Rom. VI. 6. 



198 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



Iliad. XVIII. 368-617. 



In this book (as in the first) the opening verse is a keyline 
to all the subject matter, the present selection being illustrated by 
AEMAI nVPOI A. 

Scheme: It is divided into two portions, a preparative one, 
and a formative. In the first of these, Thetis (the same goddess 
of Design whom we have met before) visits the poet (under 
guise of Vulcan), is cordially welcomed, and graciously requested 
to state her wants. 

She tells the story : 

How Design was wedded through weal and 
woe to Adam who, while alive, handed down the tradition that 
through Design a Son would be bom for men — and Thetis 
breaks off here to identify this Son as "the Shiloh" of patriarchs, 
"the Saviour" of the world, the growing "Jesus," and the 
matured "Jesus Christ" who would battle with the Jews in 
Jerusalem, and return to heaven when his mission was accom- 
plished and his passion was endured. 

Resuming her narrative, she tells how the Gentiles gradually 
parted the Fullness of time from the Eternal God, the humanity 
of Christ from his divinity, or (in briefest words) Mary from 
the Son ; how this last belief in "the seed of the woman" was 
received by Abraham when his obedience (even to abnegation of 
paternal feeling) was tested by the Almighty; how the Greeks, 
through medium of Jewish teachings, were restrained from 
lapsing into complete atheism; how many of the enlightened 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 199 

prayed incessantly for the coming of the Saviour ; and concludes 
by telling how Moses was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. 

She then declares the object of her present visit to the 
artist — that he would fabricate for the Son a new and complete 
suit of armor. The Vulcan of the Iliad gladly complies. He 
collects his scattered thoughts and focuses them on the plan; he 
puts his tablets on a block and grasps the stylus and eraser ; and, 
those things done, he proceeds to forge for the Son a suit of 
weapons — the confusion of His enemies, the safeguards of His 
followers. 



200 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

1. n Qq o! jxev (juxpvavxo Be^aq xupbq atOo^evoto. 

****** 
'H<pataxou 8' txave 86jxov ©extq dpyupoxe^a, 

370 S<p0iTov, daxep<5evxa, ^exaxpexe' dBavdxocatv, 

XdXxeov, ov p' aiixb<; xotiqaaxo KuXXoxoSfwv 
xbv 8' e5p' iSpwovxa, eXiaa^evov xept <puaaq, 
axeuSovxor xpixoSaq yap iet'xoac xavxae; exeuxsv 
e<?xd[Jievac xepl xotxov luuxaOeot; ^eydpoto, 

375 XP^ aea &s a<p' uxb xiixXa Ixdaxco xuS^xevi Gfjxev 

oippa 01 auxo^axot Oeiov Suaat'ax' dywva, 
^8' auxt<; xpbq Sw^a veot'axo, 0au[xa (SeaOat. 
ot 8' -fjTOi xrfaaov \xkv e/ov xeXoq, oO'axa 8' ouxo 
8at8aXsa xpoaexetxo* xa p' TJpxue, xoxxe 8e Sea^oui;. 

380 o<pp' oye xaux' exovetxo tButyjat xpaxt'Ssaatv, 

x^9pa ot eyyuGev tjXGs Oea ©sxtq dpyupoxe^a* 
xtjv 8e t'Se xpo^oXouca Xdptg Xtxapoxp-qSe^vog, 
xaX^, xtjv oixuie xsptxXuxb? 'A^tyuTqetq - 
ev x' apa ot <pu X £t P^> ^' x0 ? T ' £<P<*t'> ex x* ovoixa^ev 

385 Tlxxe, ©£xt xavuxexXe, txavet<; ^(xexepov 8u>, 

af8ofy xe <ptX-q ts" xap' dx; ye ^xev ouxt Oa^t^et? ; 
aXX' exeo xpoxepw, ¥va xot xap £stvta 0et<o. 



To Vulcan's home — the everlasting, bright, 

By gods distinguished, and enduring home 

(Which same the crippled one had made himself) — 

The silver-footed Thetis came, and found 

It filled with vapor, blowers all around, 

And in full swing ; for tripods, just a score, 

Circling the well-framed structure's wall he made, 

And placed gold castors 'neath the base of each, 

That they might automatically go 

Into the sacred contest, or return 

Back to the home — a wonder to behold ! 

So much of finish had they ; but as yet 

The handles nicely wrought were not attached : 

Arranging those was he, and forging bands. 

While working on them with a mind well trained, 

The silver- footed Thetis neared the home ; 

And lovely Charis, decked with glossy coif, 

(She whom the famed Amphiguean wed) 

Advancing, saw her, grew upon her hand, 

Spoke the good word and called her by her name : 

"Why! Thetis! well-draped Thetis! And thou'rt come, 
Majestic and benign, to home of ours! 
How is it, though, thou dost not often come? 
But step right on, that hostess I may play." 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 201 



NOTES. 

1. The key verse. 

2. AEMAZ nVPOI A 

The apyvpS-Trefrs Q4tls ( VPOIA ) ap- 
proaches "the home" or SaX?}^, (AEMAZ), 
which is d(p$LTos, darp^a, fit for XpicrTiavol 
xaX/ceos, and made by the KvWdirovs 
"H^awros, or "0/J.Tjpos. 

3. "rbv" — "the home," not the artist (for 
Thetis does not see the latter until he 
comes to her in verse 422). This home, 
or EaXi^i, is idpuovaa, surrounded by 
tpvaai (AEM, EMA, MAX), (TirevSovaa ; and 
has ieUoffL rplwodes around the reixos. 

4. Each rpliros (AEM, EMA, MAI ) has 

X/owra kvkXo. beneath it, 

and a tAos. 

5. oVara Ijprve ( AEMA; EMAZ ) ; 

e/C07TTe dea-fiovs ( AEMAZ). 
6- The apyvp6-ire£os Bens comes nearer 

( rvpoi ). 

She is seen by KXetci ( IMAZ), the Epic 
muse to whom the poet is wedded — the 
Ka\i] x^P ls wri ° wears a conspicuous 
lp.ds on the Kdpa. 

7. Xd/ots moves to F1VP0Z, where she em- 
braces her guest: <pv x«pf (FIV POZ). 

8. The great Design of creation is far- 
reaching and draped from our ken, is 
majestic and benevolent. 

D. irdp c5s (in Homeric diction irdp 6s) stands 
for irdpeffTi (3s, "how is it ? how does it 
come about?". The wdpos of our text 
books, with the meaning of "before", does 
not harmonize well with the freqentative 
and present tense (0a/^ffeis). 



Cipher Reading. 



VPOAAA-VIOONIA VP-OZTI. 

AEMA-II. 

AniTVAI, AEAAAZ, IAIKZNIAVT, 

AEAAAAA, lAnTAAAIAA 

A-TI-ITVATV, AEMAAA (A=0). 



AIITAAAZ, 

A-TI-IAA, EAATI, AAANI ; AIIIAZTVATV; 

IAENIA-IZ AETVTIAA, AI-nA-AA-IZ. 

AITTAA, rilAATI, AATITV. 

AII-TI-AA AinriAl, TIIAAA nTAAA, 

AAATV AAAAA. 

AII-TI-TV, TTIVIVI, TVATV. 

AEAAA; EAAAZ. 

AI-nAAAZ IAI-rrNIANI. 

rvpoAA-rviooNi 

TV-IOOVT (TV=ZorT). 
IAAA-IZ. 

IIVIA-IZ IAAAZ. 
IMAZ, IIVIA-IZ. 
TIVIOOZ (00=VV or Z). 

nv poivi. 



202 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

"Clq apa <pa)VTQaaaa xpoaw aye lioc 0eawv 
tyjv ^lv exetToc xaOscaev ^xl Gpovou dpyupo^Xou, 10 

390 xaXou, SaiSaXsou* uxb 8s 0pi)vu<; xoacv Vjsv* 

xsxXsto 8' "H<paiaTov xXutotsxvtqv, elxe ts jjluOov 

"HipataTe, xpo^oX' <o8s' ®eTtg vii tc gsTo ^at^st. 11 

Tfjv 8' t^sc(Jst' sxetTa xsptxXuToq 'AjxcptYu^etq* 12 

T H got vu [/.en Seiviq ts xat atSotY) ©ebq sv8ov. 

395 "*) I 1 ' e^awa', 8xe jx' aXyoq d<p(xsTO, ty)Xs xeadvxa 

(XYjxpbq lyujg toxTjTt xuva>xi8oc;, yj f"-" eQeXrjcev 
xpu(pat, ^auXov sovtoc. tot' av xa0ov aXyea Guptw, 
ec t^TQ [x' Eupuvo^iq ts @sti<; 0' 6xs8s£aTO xoXxw, 
Eupuv6^iQ, GuyaTfjp <z(J>oq§6ou 'Qxsavolo. 

400 Tjjat xap' s(vdsTS<; x<2^*euov 8a(8aXa xoXXd, 13 

xopxaq ts yva^xTaq 0' eXtxaq, xaXuxdq ts xat oppouq, 
ev axfjt yXacpupw, xepc 8s §60? 'Qxsavolo 14 

d9pw ^opiJLupwv qssv acxeToq* ouSs tk; aXXoq 15 

t)8ssv, outs Gewv outs Ovyjtcov dtvOpwxwv, 

405 dXXa 0stc<; ts xat Eupuvd^Y) 't'aav, a¥ n' iadaxrav. 

The pride of goddesses, thus speaking, led 
The way, and placed her on a silver throne 
Gorgeous to look at, very quaintly carved, 
While 'neath her feet a tripod too there was ; 
And, summoning the artist Vulcan, cried 
"Come this way, Vulcan ; Thetis needs thee now." 

The famed Amphiguean answer made : 
"Then is a goddess great, august, within. 
When woe pursued me, fallen from on high 
Through my audacious mother's own free will, 
She saved me — yea, she steadfastly resolved 
To screen me, all imperfect as I was. 
E'en then, perhaps, I might have sorrow supped, 
Had not both Thetis and Eurynome 
(Child of the backward flowing ocean stream) 
Admitted me within tfreir being's depth. 
With them, for nine years in a smooth-worn cave, 
While onward slipped into the ocean's foam 
A river that kept faintly murmuring, 
With them I hammered many curious things — 
Brackets and sinuous coils, covers and links ; 
And not one other soul of gods or men 
Had knowledge of the fact except the two 
Who saved me, Thetis and Eurynome. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC 203 



NOTES. 

10. AEMAZ nVPOI 

9<fm is led forward and placed upon an 
apyvpb-rjKos dpbvos (F1VP0Z) : beneath her 
wbdes is a dprjvvs. 

11. Charis, beside her guest, cries "Op.rjpe, 

ir P 6px>\' (nvpoi). 

— and &8e bids him to come "this way," 
or in nVPOZ guise. 

12. AEMAI 

Homer (note 2), yvtos (AEA AAZ)oneach 
side, lauds the great Design that saved 
him when excluded from ovpavbs (AEM) 
by the ibrrjs of p-drrip E5<z. 
Even then he might have fared badly 
had he not been admitted to the bosom 
of 6(?tis and Efywrfpij (AEMAI), begotten 

of 'tticea.v6s — of the poetic design and deep 
thought [evpi> vup.a) begotten of contem- 
plating creation's round, that incited him 
to write the Maker's praises. 
"In contemplation of created things, 
By steps we may ascend to God." 

13. For nine years did he labor over a work 
(the Iliad) that, while bringing truth to 
christians, would pass muster with the 
pagans ; and, to achieve success, he re- 
sorted mainly to such artifices as follow: 

(a) irSpiras — intercalary remarks, brack- 
eted in the midst of regular discourse 
(like that in v. 371). 

(b) yv. (tkucas — the twists and turns of 
speech, and the devious application of 
words, that tend to make discourse 
ambiguous ( the <35e of v. 392 is an 
instance). 

(c) ko\vk&s — mythological and historical 
names which, through their pointing 
(as in"H0cuaTos for"CV«;/9os),act as covers 
for the real personages he treats of. 

(d) Spp.ovs — deceptive punctuation (the 
links of discourse) and connective words 
so disposed (like the rbv in v. 372) 
that the rhetorical and grammatical 
pausings suggest different readings to 
those who have different intents. 

14. Where did he spend those nine years ? In 
a y\a<pvpbv airios ( AEMAZ ), hard by the 
sea, into which a river ( "faintly mur- 
muring" its name) emptied itself. Since 
the same AEMAZ points 'Zptipva and the 
river MiKris, there is pointed reason for 
believing in Smyrna's claim as the birth- 
place of Homer. 

15. ovdi tis SXXos The poet had no collabo- 
rators ; he was the sole author of the 
Iliad. 



Cipher Reading. 



H-VP-OTV (VP=VA, Z or T). 

nvpoiAi— n-vp-oz r-ivi-oiONi. 
r-ivi-ooz, t-ivi-oioni. 
nv-iooiAi, 

r-IVI-OOAA. 



Anrv, AT1AA. 



AIIVANITV, 

A-TI-1VT; AI-IAIAITV AIEM. 



AniMV-IZ (nA=VA or Z), 

AII-VA-NIAAA-IZ, 

AIENIAAA. 



lAnTAAAINI IAI-riMA-II. 



AiniN-IAI-Z. 
AEMA-IZ. 



204 



THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



t) viiv -qfiixepov Bo^ov Yxet; :u \ie \xi\oc xpkia 16 

xdvxa @exc xaXXtxXoxdixa> ^codypta xcvetv. 
dXXoc au ^ev vuv ot xapdOeq Jjetvqta xaXd, 

o^p' av lyw cpuaag dxoGeco^at orcXa xe xdvxa. 

410 r H, xac dx' dx^oGexoio xeXwp aujxov dveaxY) 17 

^wXeuwv uxb Be xvfj^oa qcjovxo dpaiac. 

<puaa<; \t.iv p' dxdveuGe xc'Gec, xupo? oxXa xe xdvxa J 8 

Xdpvax' iq dpyupevjv cruXXe^axo xotq exovelxo - 
axoyyw S' d^qpl xpoawxa xal a^cpco X e 'p' dxo^opyvu, 19 

415 aiixeva xe cxt^apbv xal axiqGea Xaxviqevxa* 

80 Be X'^v' - e'Xe Be axYJxxpov xa^u, @f) Be Gjpat^e, 
XO)Xeuwv. uxb B' du.<pi'xoXoc pcoovxo avaxxi 
Xpuaetat, ^toflat ve^vcaiv ecoixulat, 20 

xfjc; ev txev vooq eaxl u;exa <ppea(v, Iv Be xac auBiq 

420 xai aOevos, dGavdxwv Be 6ed>v axo epya taaaiv 

ai jiiv uxatGa avaxxoq exocxvuov. auxdp 6 eQQcov 
xXfjJt'ov h%<x 0ext<; xep exl Gpovou %z cpaetvou, 21 

ev x' apa 0! <pu X et P'> ^°? T ' e?«T', ex x' dvou.at,ev 

Now comes she to my home? Then well I know 
That I, with Thetis of the braided locks, 
Must all the living pictures offer up. 
But place good cheer before her now, while I 
Those tools and blowers one and all lay by." 

He spoke, and from the anvil block stood up 
The monstrous marvel, the imperfect one, 
And somewhat straggling did the legs advance. 
The blowers first of all he put aside, 
And gathered all the implements of fire 
(The ones he worked with) in a silver box ; 
Next, with a sponge he wiped each side his face, 
Both hands, the massive neck and hairy chest; 
Then donned a tunic, grasped a sturdy staff, 
And hied him out of doors, a cripple still. 
But flitting round the king in secret rushed 
All-golden shapes resembling living maids, 
Who have pure intellect and voice and strength, 
And know the doings of immortal gods : 
Those ministers of grace were near the king. 
But wandering nearer with a measured step, 
He sat him down upon the glorious throne 
Where Thetis was, then grew upon her hand, 
Spoke the good word, and called her by her name : 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 205 



NOTES. 

16. XP^ W , Ionic for %P" W "to proclaim, foresee, 
warn." He gives distinct warning of his 
intention to write with intricate design 
all the "living pictures" or sacred names 
— for the shield is a series of pictures. 
Ka\Xi7r\oKa/xw — a simile, illustrating the 
well-knit mazes of Creation's design. 

"The ways of heaven are dark and in- 
tricate, 

Puzzled in mazes and perplexed with 
errors ; 

Our understanding traces them in vain, 

Lost and bewildered in the fruitless 
search, 

Nor sees with how much art the wind- 
ings run, 

Nor where the regular confusion 
ends." 

17. AEMAZ 

a.Kfji60€TU) 7reXwptos airjTo's 

aviari), %wXei^cov : 
Kvij/jLai eppwovro virapaial. 
71-Awp aUrjrov — the poet stood up — a man ! 

"How poor, how rich, how abject, how 

august, 
How complicate, how wonderful is 



An heir of glory! A frail child of 

dust! 
Helpless immortal ! Insect infinite ! 
A worm ! A God !" 

18. Every <pv<ra (note 3) is put &vev 

(AEM, EMA, MAI). 
The ypa<pe?ov (AEMAZ) — for "a stylus" was 
the only ' 'implement of fire" he worked 
with — is placed in an dpyvpia Xdpva^. 

19. airoyyiq, irp6<rwira dirop.6pyvv, 

XeTpas, avx^va. aTifiapbv, 

crridea Xaxvcua ; 
XiTwvlfc ; 
ei'XeTO (TKijirTpov Kparepbv ; 

£j3rf<reT0 66pa£e, x«XeiW. 

20. #77eXot flit around him. 

21. AEMAZ nVPOI 
Advancing from AEMAZ, "O^rjpos 

(EMAZn.MAZriV, 
AZ11VP, ZI1VP0, nVPOZ) moves for- 
ward, step by step, until he reaches the 
n VPOZ or "throne" on which Thetis was 
placed (note 10) : here he sits down ; and 
here ( as on a former occasion ) design 
takes full possession of his being. 



Cipher Reading. 



AI-KZVTATV AEAAAIAA AIEMAZ 
AI-TI-NIANI, AiniAAANI (A=0) : 
AI-nA-AANI AI-rrAAAINI AI-TI-IAIAAA. 



AII-TI-NI, rilNIA, NIAIAI. 
AI-rTNIAAA, 

AIEIAIAAA AIENIAAA. 

AniAAA-II IAI-nAAAAA 

IAI-IAAAAAAINI, 

IAEMA-IZ, AI-niAIANl AHIAAANI, 

AI-TI-TVATV AI-TI-AAANI: 

AENIAITA; 

AIEMA-IZ AII-TI-AAAINI AinrTVANI: 

AII-TI-NIATV AEAAAZ, note 17. 

IAEAAA-IZ. 



EMAIAAn, AAAN-ITI-V, 

Aznvio, znvioo, nviooz. 



206 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Ttxxe, 0exi xavuxexXe, cxdvetq ^pexepov 5a>, 
425 alSoit) xe cpt'Xr) xe - xdp <o<; ye ^ev ouxi Ga^t'setq; 

auSa (5 xi 9poveei<; - xeXeaat Be ^e 0u[i.b? avwyev, 

ei Suva^at xeXeaat ye, *«l ^ xexeXea^ivov ecxiv. 

Tbv S' TQyiet^eT:' execxa @ext<; xaxd Sdxpu ^eouaa' 22 

v H<patax', ^ apa h-q Tiq, oaat 0ea£ eta' iv 'OXu^xw, 
430 xoaaaS' evl 9peatv f)ccv dveaxexo xiqBea Xuypd, 

8ara' e^ol ex xoaewv Kpovc'Siqq Zeuq aXye' e'Bwxev; 

ex. txev jx' dXXdwv dX'.dwv dvBpc Sdfxaaaev, 23 

AcaxiOfl IlTjX^t, xal ItXtqv dvepoq euviqv 

xoXXd y.dX' oux eOeXouaa. 6 jxev Syj yiQpa't Xuyp<j> 
435 xelxat evl [LZfapotq apr\y.(voq. aXXa Be jxoi vuv. 

ulbv exei jjiot Swxe yeveaOat xe xpaipe^ev xe, 24 

e£oxov -qpuxov. 6 5' dveBpa^ev Ipvst hoq' 

xbv ixev eyw Gpe^aaa <puxbv &q youvw aXwrjq, 

vtqucjIv excxpoeYjxa xoptovtatv "iXtov eVaw 
440 Tpwac ^a^Tjao^evov. xbv 8' ou% 6xoBe£o[xou auxtq 

0'1'xaBe voax^aavxa, So^ov IIyjX^iov eicw 25 

"Why ! Thetis ! well-draped Thetis ! And thou'rt come, 
Majestic and benign, to home of ours! 
How is it, though, thou dost not often come? 
Say what you wish : my spirit prompts assent, 
If do I can, and if it can be done." 

Then spoke him Thetis, while a tear she dropped : 
"Of all the goddesses Olympus holds, 
Of all the grievous cares endured by those 
In spirit, which — come, tell me, Vulcan, which 
Among them all endured the many woes 
That life, the time-born life, has given me? 
To Peleus, sprung from Aeacus,, the man 
Of other erring men, he yoked me fast; 
And, oft not pleased, man's partnership I bore. 
Consumed at last with yellow age he lies 
In his long home : but now I've other cares. 
By word of mouth he gave to me a Son, 
To be and thrive, 'The Prince' of patriarchs. 
Like a young olive shoot grew up this Prince. 
The selfsame one whom I (that made him grow 
Like to a tendril in a vineyard's stretch) 
Have in curved vessels sent to Ilion 
To battle with the Trojan men therein. 
When back for home he's bound, I'll greet him not 
Within the house where Peleus lies at rest ; 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 207 



NOTES. 

22. nvpoz 

The Thetis of Design — d&Kpv x&vo-a, and 
pointing her course by the card as she 
proceeds — tells her story. 

23. Wedded to Il^XeiJs or "ASafws — clay him- 
self (irt]\6s) and made of clay (7cua-t57?s 
or cuaK-iSijs) — Design, in spite of his trans- 
gression, remained loyal to this erring 
progenitor of other erring men. 

24. Through POZ, VPOZ, IVPOZ and flVPOZ 

does design expand and expound the 
Son left her traditionally by Adam. 

POZ : this is the vl6s or StXci— the Shi- 
loh foretold and looked for by 
patriarchs (Gen. XLIX 10). 

VPOZ : this is the vleis who, like epvos, 
grew through the ages as the 
Swri)p. 

IVPOZ : this is the still growing vlets, 
whom design has nurtured (like 
<pvrbv aypQ aKwrjs) 

to 'IijcoCj. 

Fl VPOZ : and this is the full grown vletis — 
the 'Iij<roBs Xpiar6s, sent by poetic 
design in vrjval Kopovlat to struggle 
with the Tpwes in Tpuds; the Jesus 
Christ sent by Eternal Design 
to struggle with the 'IovScwot in 
SaXi}/*. 

25. Not in earth (where Adams lies) but in 
the heaven to which He will ascend after 
death, will Christ be welcomed by the 
Great Design— the Design which, persist- 
ently Immutable, could not lighten ever 
so little the sorrows or alter the passion 
of Him who was sent to battle for man's 
redemption. 



Cipher Reading. 

nvpoz nviooNi. 
nviooNi, nviooTV. 



PONI, PONI. 

VIOOZ; VIOONI, 

VIOONI. 
IVPOZ; 

IVPONI IVPOZ IVIOONI, 
IVIOONI. 

nviooz (iz=E). 
nvpoTv nvioiovT. 
nv-PONi nvioiONi. 
nv-povT, nv-povT. 

nvioioz, 
r-ivi-ooz. 



208 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

ocppa Be [Jiot ^u>et xat 6pa cpdo? -^sXtoio, 

d^vii-rat, ouBe ii ot Buva^at ^patajJiYJcat touaa. 

Koupyjv yjv dpa ot yepaq e^eXov uleq 'Axatwv, 26 

445 tt]v a^ ex X et P" v eXexo XP e ' wv 'Aya^e^vwv 

■fJTOt 6 ty)<; a/ltov, (ppeva? e'^Otev. auxdp 'A/aiouq 

Tpd>£<; ext xpu^vflctv eetXeov, ouoe 6upa£,e 27 

eiuv e£ievar tov Be Xtjaovto yepovueq 

'Apyetcov, xat xoXXd xeptxXuxd Bdjp' ovo^a^ov. 

450 ev8' auihq ^ev execr' TjvatveTO Xotybv d^Ovar 

aiixdp 6 riaTpoxXov xept [xev xd a xeu/ea eaaev, 28 

xe^xxe Be jxtv xoXe^xovBe, xoXuv B' djjia Xabv b'xaacjev. 
xdv B' "i^ap ^apvavro xept axaffjac xuXflatv 29 

xat vu xev aurrjfJiap xoXtv expaOov, et ^yj 'AxoXXtov 

455 xoXXd xaxd Qe'savxa Mevotxt'ou dXxt^ov utov 30 

exTav' ext xpo^d^otat, xat "Exxopi xuBoq eowxev. 
xouvexa vQv xd ad youva8' txdvo^at, at x' e0e'XT]a6a 
utet l^w wxu^Lopa) Bo^ev daxtBa, xat TpucpdXetav 
xat xaXdq xvYj^toa? extacpuptotq dpaput'aq, 

But while for me he lives and sunlight sees, 

His portion's sorrow, and no mite of help 

Can I afford him, moving as I do. 

From him the children of Achaean men 

Parted their gift, the maid — the selfsame maid 

That Agamemnon, giving what's required, 

From hands of theirs took back : so, grieved for her, 

He left the fountains of their hearts dried up. 

But Trojans hemmed Achaeans in their holds, 

And hindered them from wandering far abroad; 

And Argive sages prayed and prayed to him ; 

And many offerings famed invoked his name. 

Still not in person did he ward off woe 

Right then, but round Patroclus put his own 

Equipments, sent him to the war, and made 

A multitude of people go with him. 

They battled daily for the western gates ; 

And might have sacked the stronghold in his time 

Had not Apollo killed, when in the van, 

This brave child of Menoetius, (this man 

Who had brought into being many plagues), 

And all the glory unto Hector given. 

So, now, unto thy knees I'm come in hope 

That you consent to give my short-lived Son 

A shield, plumed headpiece, ankle-fitting greaves 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 209 



NOTES. 

26. nvpox 

The vlees 'Axaiwv (IVPOI) separate the 
Kovprj or Mapla from 'Iij<rovs Xpurrds 

(nVPOZ-IVPOZ): 
this "Mary" (the one gift that mortals 
could give their God) is taken back by 
'Arpelwv or 'APpdn ( IIVPOI ), when he 
gives in exchange the "Ica/cos ( IVPOI ) 
required by God. 

xpelwv (the Kpelov of Homeric diction, and 
icpelwv of our text books) — pr. p. of XP e ^ w > 
Epic for XP& U "to give what is required 
or due." 

27. 'A X cuof (flVPO), checked by 

Tpwes or TouScuot (IVPOI), 
are restrained from further excesses ; and 
"Jesus Christ" (riVPOI) is prayed to by 
yepatoi 'Apyeiuv, and the Name is invoked 
by 7roXXoi kXvto, d&pa. 

28. AEMAI nVPOI 

Taking now the remaining portion of the 
design, Thetis tells how 

UdrpoKXos or Mwuo-^s ( AI fl VPOI ) 
— and the reader will notice how "Moses" 
is equipped with fl VPOI or the armor of 
"Jesus Christ" — is sent to the ir6\efj.os, 
accompanied by Tro\i>s-\a6s — "about six 
hundred thousand men on foot, besides 
children" (Exod. XII-37). 

29. They battle for the AEM — the anaia! irti\ai 
or 'Io-pai^X. Had he lived longer the 
ttt6\is or 'Iepix& (AEM) might have 
been captured by the son of Mevotnos or 
'APpadfi (Alfl VPOI)— by the Moses who 
had worked so many plagues in Egypt. 

30. But Muvffrjs (AI II VPON), when "in front" 
or irpbvdev, is cut off by 'AirbWwv ; and 
the glory of taking "Jericho" is reserved 
for "E/crwp or 'locn&i] (AEM) 

In mythology Helios represents the 
sun, Latona the atmosphere. Apollo 
(who is the child not of Helios and 
Latona, but of Latona and Zeus or 
"life") represents the vital agencies 
whereby we see the light and breathe 
the air. When the poet says that 
Apollo cut off Moses, he simply says 
that those vital agencies failed the law- 
giver — that he died of apnoea. 



Cipher Reading. 



IVIOOIVI (VV=I) IVIOION1. 
IVP01VI, IVIOOIVI (OV=VV or M). 



nviooNi, nvpoivi. 

IVIOONI. 



nvioo; 

IVIOOI, IVIOIOIVI. 



nvioioz (iz=E) nvioiONi. 

nvpoz nvpoz tivpoz (rv=z, t or A) 



ATVnVPOTV, AI-nV-POE. 



Ainvpoz, 

AlAAn-VPOI. 



AI-IAIAIIAI AIEAA, 
AI-IAIAINI. 
AITTAA, IAI-TI-AA. 
AZriVIOIONI, 
AZriVPOZ. 

AZ-nV-PON. 

ATVIIVPON A-IZ-nVPON. 

IAI-TI-AA, IAEVT. 



210 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

460 xac 6(opY)x'* yap yjv ot, dxcoXeae xiaxbg Ixatpoi; 31 

Tpwal §au;ecV 6 5e xelxac k%\ ^Oovt 0u[i.bv d^eutov. 32 

Ttjv §' Tq^eip'ex' exetxa xepcxXuxbq ' Ati.9ty utqei^* 
Odpaei, jjltq xoi xauxa ^exd ippeal a^at [xeXovxtov. 
a" yap ^tv Qavdxoto SucTj^eog wBe Buvat'jxYjv 

465 v6a<ptv dxoxpu^at, oxe ^tv ixopoq a!vb<; txdvot, 

&q of xeux ea *aXd xapeaaexca, ola xi<; auxe 33 

dvGpwxwv xoXewv Oau^daaexat, 0? xev "oYjxca. 

W Q<; etxwv xtjv j/iv Xfxev aiixou, @t) 8' exc <puaa<;, 34 

xdq 8' eq xup expe^e, xeXeuae xe Ipyd^eaOac. 

470 <pGac« 5' ev ^odvotatv eecxoat xaaat ecpuawv, 

xavxotrjv euxprjaxov dux^Tjv IvjavieTaat, 
dXXoxe ^ev axeuoovxt xap^^evat, aXXoxe S' auxe, 
oxxuq "Hipataxo? x' eOeXot, xac epyov avotxo. 
XaXxbv §' ev xupt @dXXev dxetpea xaaac'xepov xe, 35 

475 *at XP uaov Tt^vxa xac apyupov* auxap exetxa 

S-fjxev Iv dx^oOexa) t/iyav ax^ova, ylvxo oe x et P* 3^ 

Qociax^pa xpaxepiQv, exepi()<pt oe ye'vxo xupdyp-qv. 

And breastplate — for, when pierced by Trojan men, 
The faithful servitor lost what was His. 
Disturbed in soul He now lies on the ground." 

The famed Amphiguean then replied : 
"Courage ! let not those wants disturb your thoughts. 
For oh ! when grim fate comes his way, that I 
Could shield him from a shameful death as sure 
As that there will be armor fair for him — 
Such armor that the best of many men, 
Who may perceive, will gaze and gaze again." 

He left her there, unto the blowers went, 
And turning them to fire he bade them work: 
Then all the blowers blew in twenty moulds, 
Emitting varied sorts of normal sound 
When touched by speeding one way, now the next, 
As Vulcan wished, and as the work progressed. 
With ardent love he cast enduring brass, 
Tin, highly valued gold, and silver : then 
He placed a mighty anvil on the block, 
Brandished a sturdy crusher in one hand, 
And with the other seized what holds the fire. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 211 



NOTES. 

31. The TTVPOI armor is carried off by 
Tpwes (note 24). 

32. She closes with an anagrammatical ren- 
dering of the Name in TTVPOI : 

o-Keirai iivl-xdovl, 

Bv/jav dxetfwv. 

33. 7-is has the emphatic meaning of 
"some great one," and implies that 
even the expert (in pointing and in- 
tuition) must look and look again in 
order to follow in his steps. 

34. AEMAI 

Going back to "the blowers" (note 18), 
and turning them towards the trvp of 
TTVPOI, he makes them blow in 

xod voicriv eeUoffi : they give out 
every kind of an axn^-q (AEMA, AEMAI, 
IEMAA, AEMAI, AEMAA, IEMAN, 
EMAN, EMAI, AEMAI, 

IEMAZ, AEMAI). 

35. Fired with his theme (iv wvpl) , he fuses 

&T€ipT)S X a ^ K< k> 

KCLfflrepos, 

Xpvabs rt/ttijets, 

apyvpos : 

or, in other words, he puts into the 
crucible of cipher speech all kinds of 
letters — the brazen or divisional, the 
flexible tin or allotropic, the golden or 
genuine, and silver or dialectic. 

36. Putting p.iyas d/cd/xwi' on Serbs, and grasp- 
ing a pa.KTT7)p Kparepd with apurrepa and 
the ypcMpehv with 5e£id, he begins his task. 
irvpayp-qv. So does Bulwer say, 

"The pen is mightier than the sword. 

Behold 
The arch enchanter's wand! itself 

a nothing! 
But taking sorcery from the master 

hand 
To paralyze the Caesars, and to 

strike 
The loud earth breathless !" 



Cipher Reading. 



r-iviooz h-vio-ioni, 
nv-iooNi nviooNi. 



lAriTNIANI AIENIA-II. 

AII-TI-MA, AI-TI-MAI, 

ll-TI-MAA, AIEMAI, AEMAA, IEMAAI, 

I-TI-MAAI, EMAVT, AEMAI, 

IIITMAI, AI-nMAI. 

AII-TI-TVAIVI A-im-AAA-II 

(ini=IVI or I), 
AI-KNITVATV, 

IAI-riAAAZ (A=0) AEIVITIIVI, 
IAI-nAAAAA. 



AEMA-II IAEMAINI, AEMAI (A=0). 
AEAAANI IAEIVIATV, AI-IANIIVIAI; 
note 18, AENIA-II. 



212 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

[With AEMAI as picture, he fashions "a shield" and puts in it 
"heaven," "earth," "sea," "sun," "moon" and "stars." 

He then proceeds to offer the ^toaypta, the general plan being to 
grave each name with its orthographical variations, as often as 
possible from the picture's letters: those ^todypca or "offerings" 
are engraved in the order of Jesus, Christ, Mary, Joseph, Naz- 
areth, Bethlehem, Canaan (with subdivisions, tribes and towns), 
Alleluiah! and Hosanna! 

This array of living pictures will be (as he says) a shield, 
breastplate, helmet and greaves for himself — a complete armor 
against the attacks of infidelity, unrighteousness, despair and 
persecution ; and, with this remark, he concludes by giving the 
products of his pen to design, who rushes with them to the world 
of readers.] 

Yloiet 8e icpomaxa adxoq \xif<x xe czi$<xp6v re, 37 

xdvxoae oatodXXov ice pi 8' avxuya (iaXXe <paetvi]v, 
480 xpt'icXaxa, {JLap^aperjv, ex. 8' apyupeov xeXa^wva. 

icevxe 0' ap' auxou eaav aaxeo? icxu^eq* auxap ev auxu> 

icotet 8at'8aXa xoXXa toutyjai irpaicc'Beaacv. 

'Ev jxev yalav exeu^', ev 8'oupav<5v, ev 3e GdXaaaav, 38 

•rjeXtov t' dxa^avxa, aeX-qvrjv xe xX-qOouaav, 
485 ev 8e xa xet'pea xdvxa, xdx' oupavog ecxecpavwxat, 

ITXT)td8e<; 0' Taoa? xe, xo xe aGevoq 'Qpt'wvoq, 

"Apxxov 6', t)v xal "A^a^av IxixXyjciv xaXeouccv, 

rjx' auToQ axpecpexat xac x' 'Qp(<ova Soxeuei, 

oTt) 8' d[A[xopo<; eaxt Xoexpwv 'QxeavoTo. 



A great, strong shield, carved quaintly on all sides, 
He made at first ; on this he put a rim 
Bright, triple, firm ; and then a silver cord. 
The shield's own plates were five: with skilful pains 
He fashioned in it many curious works. 

Therein he framed earth, heaven, and the sea, 
The sun that knows no rest, the filling moon, 
And all those stars with which the vault is crowned — 
Pleiads and Hyads, and Orion's strength, 
And Arctos (also called the Wain), which here 
Is turned, and which ensnares Orion too, 
And is alone exempt from ocean's baths. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 213 
NOTES. Cipher Reading. 



AEMAI 

He makes first a colkos /xey&Xov <TTiflap6v ; 

then a triple &vtv£ 

(IEMAN, EMAA, AEMAI ) 
that is <pa.ei.vfi and p.app.apri; 
then an apyipeos Te\ap.dop. 
irivre itt6x&, the five folds or letters 
of AEMAI. 

The following are fashioned in his picture : 
yaia (MAI], oipavbt (AEMAI ), 

edXacrcra (AEMAN), 
7/i\L0s d/cd/xas 

and <re\riP7] nXr/dovcra (AEMAI), 
relpea (AEMAI), 

IL\ V id5es and 'VdSes (AEMAI), 
'Qpluv (MAN), and 
"ApKTos or"Aiia£a 

(AEMAI, EMAI, AEMAI). 

■fjx' olvtov = here (in the picture, not in the 
heavens) the first Arctos reads straight 
backwards [o-rpe'cpeTai), the second one 
snares the Orion combination (5o/cei5et), 
and the third escapes or goes beyond the 
Xoerpd 'li/ceawO (AEMAI)— the only one 
of his stars that does. 



IAI-riA-AA-11, 



IAI-r-II-VIAINI, 

AniAAANI; 



inTNIAN, IKINIAA, AHINIA-II, 
AIENIAZ, AI-IAIAIMAI; 
AII-TI-AAAAA AI-IAIMAINI. 



1VIAI, AI-nAAAINI, 

Alll-AV-TIVIAIV, 

AENIA-II A-TI-IIVIAIVI, 

A-TI-INIANI A1VAITVAI, 

AEIVIAI, 

AI-VA-IAIIVIAIVI (VA=I,T or A), AEMAI, 

AAAIN, 

AII-rTVA-II, EAAAINI, A-ni-AAA-II, or 

A-TI-IIVIAIVI, IIAIVIMAIVI, AI-TI-MATV. 



AEAAAI AniNIAAA. 



214 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

490 'Ev 8s Suw xofyas xoXec? jJLSpoxwv dvOpwxwv 

xaXd<;. ev if\ \xh qx ya^ot x* eaav eiXaxivat xe* 39 

vu^cpaq 8' ex GaXa^wv, 8at8tov uxo Xa^xojxevdwv, 40 

Tfjytveov dva ataxic xoXuq 8' u^e'vatoq opwpet. 

xoGpot 0' dpxTqffXTJpe^ locveov, Iv 8' apa xotatv 41 

495 aiiXot <popfJUYYe<; xe £oy]v e^ov' a ' ^ £ yuvatxes 

tc7xa[xsvat Oau^a^ov exi xpoOupotatv IxdccxY)" 
Xaol 8' ecv ayopj} rj^av dOpdot. ev0a 8e velxoq 
wpa>p3f Suo 8' av8pe<; evei'xsov etvexa xoivf)<; 42 

dv8pb<; axo <p0t^.evou* 6 ^sv eu^exo xdvx' dxooouvar 

500 ctq^o) xnpaujxwv 6 8' dvaivexo jxrjSev eXsaOac. 

a^pw 8' Iea0r]v exuaxopc xetpap eXeaOar 
Xaoc 8' dt^ipoxspotatv Ixtqxuov, djjupig dpwyot. 
XTQpuxsq 8' apa Xabv epi^xuov* ot 81 yepovxe? 43 

eiax' exc £eaxolat Xi'Gocc;, tepw £vl xuxXw, 

505 cxfjxxpa 8s xrjpuxwv ev y(spa' e^ov TJepoqxovwv 

xolaiv exetx' fjccaov, d^oc£>Y)8l<; 8s ocxa^ov. 44 



Two cities did he fabricate therein, 
Two cities fair of speech-endowered men. 
In one were nuptial rites and marriage feasts ; 
And from their cloisters, under torches bright, 
All through the city did they lead the brides. 
Then loud and long swelled forth the Bridegroom's chant : 
'Twas trolled right back by dancers in their teens ; 
Each pipe and harp of theirs gave forth its sound ; 
Dames in their porches cried it in amaze ; 
And crowds of people uttered it in speech. 
Then there ensued a controversy keen. 
Two persons differed o'er the price of Him 
Who died for sake of man : one claimant urged 
That every man would be redeemed : the next, 
While for the tribesmen saying "y es >" denied 
That the unworthy would be gathered in. 
Then, while the people helping both cheered both, 
The two proceeded to a scribe who knew 
How such a crucial question should be grasped. 
By criers, next, the people were displaced. 
In hallowed circle, and on tapering slabs, 
The ancients sat ; and in their hands were held 
The clear-voiced criers' staffs : to those they sped ; 
And those gave judgment in successive turns. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 215 



39. 



NOTES. 

The graving of "Jesus. 

AEMAI 



In the first city, 2aX7)>, are ya/xi/cd and 
eiKcnrivcu. 
40 vtj/j.<pai, under da'i'des Xa/x-n-pai, are led from 
daXdfMi all through the city: the vp.tva.ios 
begins, and this "Bridegroom's" chant 
is 'Irjaovs. 
41. The Name is now rung through the fol- 
lowing changes : 
AEMAI — alffioL 6pxv a " ra L troll 'lyo-ovs 

straight back (from right to left) ; 
AEMI, EMAI — each av\6s plays 

'ItjctoOs ; 
AEMA, AEMA — each <p6p/juy£ plays 

'It?o-oOj ; 
AEM, EMA, MAI — each 701/77, 

in her dvpa, 
cries 'I-qaov ! 
AEMT, I EMA, EMAA, TMAZ— the Xa6s 
in each group 
utters 'Itio-oDs. 
ija-av, Imperf. pi. of tf/u. 

42. Two men — dvOpwiros (AEMAI, AEMA) — 
argue over "the price of the Crucified 
One," or redemption. 

AEMAI ; the first , broader than the other, 

claims Xurpucis tor irdvres : 

AEMA: the second, narrower in view, con- 
cedes \tjrpcoa-is to the drjfws or 
'IouScubi, but denies that the 
/xijSei's (AEMAI) or "worthless" 
will be taken among the elect or 
privileged (as Stj/aos signifies in 
meaning). 

Each is encouraged by those he fights for 

—the first by avdpunroi (AEMAI), 

the second by 'lovdaloi (AEMA). 

43. K-fipvues displace "men" and "Jews" from 
trie picture, which is now occupied by 
the yipovre (AEMAI)— by Mwarjs (AEM) 
and'Iw/3os (MAI), one a Jew, the other 
a Gentile, competent writers both, and 
"criers of redemption." Each holds a 
/3t'j8\oi, "the clear -voiced crier's sceptre" 
or scroll of parchment rolled up in the 
form of a staff. The shape and formation 
of the "Moses" and "Job" combinations 
suggest the other descriptive details : the 
margin shows how every letter in their 
names is either an I or an A (|e<rro?o-t 
Xidois), and how the reading of those 
names goes round and round in circular 
fashion {iep<^ KvtcXip). 

44. AEM: the decision of ' 'Moses' ' is \v<ris iraai ; 
MAI: " "Job" " Awrts fraai ; 
so that " Redemption for all" is the 
verdict of the two. 



Cipher Reading. 



AEMA-IZ; AIEMA-II, 

Al-IA-II-VIANI. 

IAI-nNIA-IZ, AEN1AI IAEMAAA, 

IAEMAVT: AI-VAINIAI; 

AniMA-II. 



IAENIAI AIIIAVTMAI, AnTMAI. 

AIEAAI, EAAAII, 

AII-TI-TVI, l-TI-AATII; 

AIIKAAMAI, AIIAAAMAI, 

AEAATI, AETVTI; 

AII-TI-NI, TIINIA, IVIANI, 

AEAA, nrMA, AAAZ, 

IAETV, EAATI, AAANI. 

AEA-AT, IEAAAI, TII-MI-AA, T-MI-AI, 

AI-TI-TVT, ll-TI-TVAl, ETVTIA, TTVANI. 

AflTNIAAA, AIVAAANIA. 



AnrAATII, AIENIAI 

AinrvTiT, AniMA, 
AnnviA. 

AEMANI. 



AnTNIAAA. 
AEAAAAA. 



AIENIAAA. AIIIAAIIM, 
AA-IAI-AI. 



AriTAA, IVIAIAA. 



AIIAA AIEM; 
AATII IMIA-II. 



2i6 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

xeixo 8' ap' lv (Jtiaaocat 8uio ^puaoto xdXavxa, 45 

x<p ho^ev oq ^.exa xotai Sc'xtjv i0uvxaxa e't'xot. 



Ttjv 8' £T£pT)v xoXiv a^ipt 860) axpaxol eYaxo Xawv 46 

510 xeuxeat Xa^xo^evoc - Bfya 8e a^iatv Tpoave §ouXiq, 

tqe StaxpaGeetv, 15 avScxa xavxa oaaaaOat 47 

xxfjatv oatjv xxoX(s0pov exiqpaxov Ivtci<; eepyec. 
ot 8' ou'xw xet'0ovxo, X6^w 8' uxeOwpiqaaovxo - 
teIxo? ^ev 9' aXoxot xe (fikou xai viqxia xexva 48 

515 gua-z', iyes'zixo'zeq ^exa 8' dvepeq oDq e/e Y^pa?" 

ot 8' taav. tqpxe 8'apa a<piv"ApY)(; xal II<xXXa<; 'AOtqvt), 49 

#1x9(1) xpuceta, XP^ a£ta ^ efyaxa eaOiqv, 
xaXw xat ^eydXw auv xeuxeatv, coaxe 0ea> xep, 
4^9 1? dpt^Xw Xaol 8' uxoXt'^ove? rjaav. 

But placed between the two are golden scales, 

In readiness for any one who would 

With them this judgment speak in straightest way. 



On either side the other city were 
Two warring hosts, bright with the people's arms ; 
And in two ways did counsel sway their minds — 
To plunder through and through ; or else in twain 
Exactly share whatever kind of loot 
The longed-for citadel had cooped within. 
While the one host was yet not fully sure 
And covertly was arming for the raid, 
And while fond maids and lisping children lined 
The walls, and with them seniors bent with years, 
The other host advanced. Pallas and Mars 
Its leaders were ; and each one golden was, 
And golden raiment wore ; glorious and great ; 
With all their armor like the very God ; 
And visible from every point of view : 
(But somewhat less so were the people's selves.) 



45. 



46, 



47. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 217 

NOTES, Cipher Reading. 

To show that this is the verdict given 
by AEM and MAX, the poet tells us that 
between the two are "golden scales", by 
means of which the judgment can be 
read straight. 
EMA: this lies between the two; it spells 

XpvvZ fryd ; it reads Xtftrts Tract rilAAA niNIAI ; ITIMIT "l-IM-TI. 

straight. 



48. 



49. 



The graving of 1 ' Christ. " 
AEMAI 

The other city, 'Ie/nxw (EMA), has on 
each side a arpards (AEM A, EM AX) dis- 
tinguished by the literal arms of "the 
people" or 'lovdaioi. 
[During the remainder of the section 

those forces are specified by ol ot, 

pointed respectively by A on the left, 
and by VI (of X ) on the right: the 
former are close to the city ; the latter 
are separated from it by I (the remain- 
ing portion of X), and this represents 
the distance to be traversed by the 
right hand host.] 

Two courses are open to them, (a) to go 
right through the city; (b) to divide all 
its contents evenly, i.e. to divide IKXMA 
into IKA, AMA. 

In the first case, each side will get Xpeto-ros 
(AEMA, EMAX); but the right hand host 
will have the advantage, since it gets 
the Name straight. 

In the second case, the right hand will 
again have the advantage, since AMAX 
will give it Xpurros, while the left cannot 
form the Name from AIKA. 
In either case, then, the right hand ot 
are sure, while the left hand ot are not 
sure (oforw treldovTo); and (most important 
of all) in either case the poet has suc- 
ceeded in graving 'Christ" three times 
(AEMA, EMAX, AMAX). 

EMA 

A short description of the city is given : 
the retxos is lined by tfXoxot cpl\ai, 

vqiria rinva, and yepaioi. 
EMAX 
While the left hand 01 are in uncertainty 
and getting their arms ready, the right 
hand ot advance from VI to IV (the N 
of X). At their head are'A/^s and IlaXXas 
' l kdi)vi) (EMAX), the two xP v<xe ^, with 
Xpvffeia eavd, clad in the armor of Xpeicrros 
(note 47), and quite conspicuous to the 
eye — more so than "the people" or 
'IouSatoi (note 46) underneath them. 



I-TI-AAAI. 
AIIAZTVA, IIAZTVAZ. 



AnnviA, nnviAZ. 



AIKTVTVA, IIA-VTNIAAA. 



ATVTITV. 



IKZIVIIT; TITAAA TI-IM-IA, 
irZNIA IIAZN1A, iriVIIVIA (E=ITZ). 



EMA-IZ, ETVAAA 
l-VA-ZNIAZ (VA=E or T), 
TI-ITVAAA ENIAZ. 



EIVIAIAA, 



218 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

520 01 S'oxe 8tq p' otavov, o6t atpfotv elxe Xo^fjcjai 50 

iv tuotcz^kI) oOc t' <xpc[xhq £tjv xdvxeaJt ^OTOtatv, 
£v0' apa To(y' \Xovt' eiXu^lvoc acOoxi ^aXxtp. 
totat 8' exstt' dzaveuOs ouw axoxoc e'lato Xawv, 51 

Sey^evoi oxxote irrjXa tSotaio Jtai sktxccq $ouq" 

525 ot 8e i<x%<x xpoyivovxo* 8uw 8' a^' exovxo vo^e? 

TepxojJLevot aiipiyljt" ooXov 0' outs xpovorjuav. 
01 yiv ia xpotoovxsq Ixeopavov, d>xa 8' exectoc 52 

Ta^vovx' a^?t @od>v dcyeXaq xai xwea xaXd 
dpyevvdiv 6?<i)V xteTvov 0' exl pjXo^OTTJpas. 

530 ol 0' w? ouv IxuOovxo xoXuv xeXgc8ov xapd @oua(v, 53 

etpdwv xpoxdpotOe xaOi^Evoc, auxtx' e<p' Yxxwv 
^dvTGs dspsnxoSwv ^EtExtaOov, atya 8' "xovto, 
arrpd^svot 0' i[J.a/ovxo ^d^v xo-ua^olo xap' o/Oaq, 
(idXXov 8' aXXi^Xouq x a ^ x1l lP ecrt £yx e fy fflv - 

535 £v o'"Epi<;, ev os Kuoot[j.bc 6p.(Xeov' ev 0' oXorj Kiqp, 54 

aXXov ^o)bv e/ouaa vsoutoctov, dXXov douxov, 
aXXov T£0vY]d)va xaxd ^60ov eXxe xooouv 
el[xa 8' £-/' d^ip' (Jap-ocat oacpotvsbv a¥[McTt cpwTwv. 



Now, when at last they reached a spot that seemed 

For raiding proper (near a river where 

Refreshment was for all requiring food), 

Right there they halted, wrapped in glinting brass. 

Aloof from them, moreover, were two spies 

(The people's own) a-looking where they'd see 

The sheep and kine meandering slow (and soon 

Those came in sight) ; and also, keeping pace, 

Were herdsmen two who played upon their flutes : 

But with the plan those nothing had to do. 

Then rushed those on who saw what was in front, 

And slaughtered on all sides with no delay 

The herds of kine, nice flocks of fleecy sheep, 

And robbed their keepers of existence too. 

But, when those camped before the barriers heard 

The bellowing loud and long among the kine, 

They straightway followed on their nimble steeds 

And, coming like a flash upon the scene, 

Fought the good fight beside the river's banks 

And pierced the others with their brass-tipped spears. 

And here was Strife with boist'rous Turmoil mixed: 

And here was ghoulish Care that grasped a beast 

Just lately slain, another yet unhurt, 

And trailed a third killed during the melee — 

The ghoulish Care that round her shoulders had 

A scarf stained red, dark red with heroes' blood. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 219 



NOTES. 

50. AEMAZ 

When the furthest limit of X is reached 
(where they are in a proper position for 
attacking "the city", and where they 
find a irorap-os (EMAI) with sufficient pa- 
bulum for "the brethren" who thirst for 
'Updavos), they halt and are enveloped in 
aldo\f/ xaX/c6s (EMAI). 

51. Apart from them are two spies, o-kSww 
(EMA), "the people's or 'IouScuot, watch- 
ing for the /«?Xa and eXi/ces /36es, "that 
soon strike the eye"; and accompanying 
them are two herdsmen, vop.4e (EM AX) 
with their avpi-yyes- Those "spies" and 
"herdsmen" are for descriptive effect 
only, and "are not concerned in the 
design". 

52. "The city" is raided; the |36es, irdiea /caXa, 
and /«jXo-/3oTat (EMA) are slaughtered — 

for Xpurr6s. 

53. He now goes back to the left hand ol 
(A) , that had remained encamped before 
the city's elpai (EMA): they mount their 
iiriroi (AE) , advance to the 

iroTdfioio oxGa.1 (EMAA), and pierce 

aWrjXovs with x a ^ K VPV e'7X ea — 
for Xpicrros. 

54. He looks over the battle ground: 
Here are'Epis and Kvdoip.6s (AEMI) 

mingled — 
for Xpicrrds: 
And here is the 6Xorj K-fip (I EM), that 
holds one cii's (EM) just slain among the 
Truiea (note 52) , another oi's (IE) good and 
sound, a third 81$ ( E ) trailed behind 
her all through the fight, and that has 
on difwi. an elput stained with the af^a 
of <p£)Tes — 

all this for Xpicrrds. 



Cipher Reading. 



IVATVMAI. 

IVATVNIAI. 
nilVIAZ HI-AAAAA. 

nrrvA (a=o>. 

IVAZIVIA. 

irZMA, IKNIIVIA nrMA. 

Tl-IMAINI, 

nrvTAVT. 



note 51, nilVIA EAAA, 

ril-IVIAI— niTVA: 
IKTVNIAI. 



EIVIA. 

lAnr. 

IVAZTVAA EMAIA. 

IVATVIVIAA, IIVIVIIVIAA TI-IIVIAA. 

TTAAITA. 

AI-ni-MI, AllVATVMI. 

IAIKZVTI. 

ITIIAA IT-ITM (ir=IO or P). 

niAA (nA=VA or Z). 

ini. 
frz. 

IT-IIA-A, IIIAIV-IM, IIIAIV-IM, 

IIIAZIVI. 

IIIATVTV. 



220 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

d^t'Xeov 8', waxe ^woc @poxoi, i\V ly-axovxo, 55 

540 vexpnuq t' aXX^Xwv e'puov xaxaxeOvrjuxat;. 



'Ev 8' extGst velov, ^aXaxiqv, xtecpav apoupav, 56 

eupecav, TptxoXov* xoXXot 0' dporrjpsg Iv auxf) 57 

^euyea Stveuovxeq IXdaxpeov e'vOa xat eyf)a. 
ol 0' oxoxe <JTpe^ocvi£<; Ixofaxo xlXaov apoiipYjq, 58 

545 xoiai 8' exstx' ev x e P a ' 8exas ^sXcqSeoq o'c'vou 

86ax.ev dvrjp licu&v xol 81 axpe^ajxov av' oy^ouq, 

te^evot vetoto ^aOstrjq tsXctov ixejGat. 

T^ 8e ^sXacvex' oxtaOev, apT)po[xevY) 81 itpxet, 59 

XpuasiY) xsp iouaa* to orj xspt Oad^oc tstuxto. 

Like mortal characters they mixed and fought, 
And held the dead of others that they slew. 



In it he placed a virginal, mild farm, 
Generous, ample, cultivated thrice ; 
And many tillers, driving teams therein, 
Kept planting it throughout its length and breadth. 
Now, when they reached the farm's extreme, and turned, 
A man soon coming placed within their hands 
A vessel filled with most delicious mead ; 
And so they plowed row after row, in haste 
To reach the limit of this generous soil. 
But what's behind was dark, though good it looked 
For cultivation, golden as it was : 
Now, this had made the marvel greater still. 






IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 221 
NOTES. Cipher Reading. 



55. The Eris- Kudoimos- Ker combination 
(A EM I) holds other forms of Xpurros be- 
sides those mentioned, such as 

AEM, AEN, AEM. 



57. 



58. 



59. 



The graving of " Mary." 
AEMAX 
His picture AEMA, is described as 

an dpovpa that is vetos, /xaXa/o;, 

Trleipa , evpeia, rplwo\os. 
TpLirdKos denotes that dpovpa can be turned 
three times from the picture 

(AEN, AEM, AEMA); 
and so too can Mapla. 
In this farm there is many an apor-qp 
(AEM, AEMI, 

AEMT, AEMT, AEMA, 

IEMI, IEMA, EMA, 

AEMA) ; 
each one of them has a feiryos; 



and each one of them plants Mapla. 



AEMA, the last and best of the above 
name forms, comes in for special 
description : 
when they come to A (the farm's extrem- 
ity), and turn towards the left, they are 
met by an &v0pwtros (AEMA) who gives 
them a diiras peXixpov p.r)6vos, 

that tastes of Mapla. 
The foreground has been cultivated for 
"Mary", but not the back-ground or 
AEMAX, which is now pointed out by 
fjue\alver' owiaOep, and Xpvaelrj. Had this 
whole been taken, the number of Mapla 
combinations would have been marvel- 
lously multiplied, and an additional form 
of the name (Maptdp.) obtained. 



AIIIATVM, AIIIATVN, AIIATVNI. 



AI-rTAAA, AIEN-IAI, AI-IAIVIMA, 
AI-niVIA, AII-TI-IVIA, AlirTTAIA. 



AI-VAIVIIV, AI-IAIVIAA, as above. 
AI-IAIVIIV, AIIIA-ZI-VI, as below. 

Al-IAIVITV, AI-VAZIVII, 

Al-IAZAAT, AIIAIV-IM-T, AIVAZMA, 

IIIAVTIVII, I1IAIAAA, IVAIVIMA, 

A-IT-TAAA. 

All-VAZNI, AITAANII, 

AiriTN-IT, A-IIA-AAN-IT, AriTNIA, 

IIIAAANII, IIIAAAN-IAI, 1VAZNIAI, 

AITITNIAI. 

AI-VA-ZI-VI, Al-IAZ-MI, 

IAI-TI-MT, AITZIV-IT, AI-TI-MA, 

ii-va-zi-vii, innviA, iiazma, 

AIEMA. 



AIVAAANIA. 

AEVTA AIIIAAAMIA AII-rr-TVA. 

AIEMA. 



AIIAIAIIVIANI AiniNIAZ, AIEAAAZ. 



AIEMAZ. 



222 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

550 'Ev V exc'Osc xk\i.z\oq ^aOuXiQtov ev6a B' epc6ot 60 

tj'^wv, o^et'aq Bpexdvaq lv /epfflv e/ovxeq, 
Bpdy^axa B' aXXa ^ex' oy^ov exigxpt^a xc'xxov IpatU, 61 

aXXa B' d{AaXXoBexY)pe<; ev eXXsBavoZac Beovxo. 
xpec? B'ap' a(JLaXXoBsx^pe<; e<peaxaaav auxdp oxcaOev 62 

555 xatBe? Bpay^euovxe<;, sv dyxaXc'Beaac cplpovxeq, 

daxepxs? xdpexov (iaaiXeug 3' lv xoTjc, aitoxfj, 63 

axfjxxpov e^cov eaxiqxei, eV oy^ou, yY]06auvo<; xfjp. 
x^puxsg B' dxdveuOev iixb oput Balxa xevovxo, 64 

@ouv B' tepeuaavxeq (xeyav a^jupexov' at Bs yuvalxs? 

560 Belxvov epIOocctv, Xe'J*' dXipixa xoXXd xdXuvov. 



And in it did he place a well-cropped glebe 
Where workers mowed, sharp sickles in their hands. 
Some blades fell thick to earth along the row ; 
Some more in bundles did the binders tie. 
Three binders urged the work ; and at their back, 
Supplying them without a stop were boys 
Gleaning and bringing in their arms the blades. 
Midst those the guardian of the manor stood, 
In calm repose, the sceptre in his hand, 
Upon the furrow, and rejoiced in soul. 
Some distance off the heralds made a feast 
In private for the partriarch, and moved 
Around the mighty ox they sacrificed ; 
But for the workers women made a meal, 
And pearly barley spread with lavish hand. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 223 



NOTES. 

The gra ring o f ' 'Joseph . ' ' 

60. AEMAI 

In this section, as in the preceding, a 
portion of the picture, AEMAA, is dealt 
with first : 

it is specified as a ri/xeuos fiaOvkffiov, 
where many anfytfos (AEM, EMA, EMAA) 
is working, each with an 6£e?a 

apirrj. 

61. Some Sp&Kes (AEMA) fall epafe on 8yfws- 

other „ (EMAA) are bound with 

deap-ol. 

62. The binders are 

three-d/uoXXo-5eTT7/> (AEMT, AEMA, 

AEMAA) ; and hack of all those are 

ircuSes (AEMAA) 8pd.Kas aytcdXais 
ipipovres awtpydrjv 

63. Among those "binders" and "boys'" is 
the fiacnXefc or 'Iiixrriiros (AEMAA) ; and 
the same ' Iwcnriros is marked four times 
more — in 

EMAA, where he is in <nwn-f)\ 
AEMAA, „ he holds the aKrj-n-Tpov; 
AEMA, ,, he stands upon the 6ypx>i; 
EMA, ,, he is yndd-o-wos /dap. 

64. He now draws upon the full picture for 
other forms of the name : 

K^pvKes (AEMAZ) surround a Povs-fiiyas, 
and prepare it for the patriarch (8pvi), 
'IoiJoTyTros: 
yvva?Kes (AEMAA) prepare simple fare 
in the shape of 'Icoo-i^ for "the workers" 
(AEM, EMA, EMAA), and serve it up as 
\evicbv &\(pirov (AEMAA). 



Cipher Reading. 



AI-IANITVAA AIIIANITVAA. 
AI-ri\IITV, ITZTVA, ETVTIA. 
AI-IANIIVI, IKNIIVIA, IKZNIAA. 
AIEIVI, EAAA, E-MI-AA. 
AII-TI-TVA, AII-TI-NIA, IAI-rrMA 

(A=0) ; 
IIAINIAA, 
l-VA-ZMAA. 

AI-IAAAMT— A-TI-IIVIT, 

AI-rAAMA — AETVA, 
AI-rrMAA— DEMAA. 
AENIAA AETVAA AI-IAIVINIAA 
AIIANITVAA AMANIIVIAA. 

AIIAIVIMAA, AEAATIA. 



IVAZMAA, EMAIA. 

AEVTTIA, AIKTVNIAA. 

AriTVTA, note 61 

ITTVTVA, ril-MI-A— niNIAI EIVIAI. 



AEAAAAA, AIIVA— ZIVIANI. 



AEAATIAA. 
AI-VAZNIAA. 



IAEVT, EVTAI, niMAA. 
AiniNIAA (A=0) AiniNIAA. 



224 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

'Ev o' eicOei axacpuX^jt ^eya ^pcOouaccv dXcoiQV, 65 

xaXiqv, ^puaeliQV ^eXaveq V ava @0Tpue<; Yjaav. 

Ictt^xsi ok xa^a^i Bia^xepeq dpyupqfjaiv 66 

d^cpl SI xuavsY]v xdxexov, xept 8' e'pxoc; e'Xaaaev 67 

565 xajccrepou - ^t'a 0' oTr) dxapTCToq rjev ex' auiriqv, 68 

Tfj VITSOVTO CpOpf^Sg OT£ TpUyOWSV dX(t>Y]V. 

xapGevtxal oe xal YjiOeoi, dxaXd tppoveovTeg, 69 

xXexxoZq Iv TaXdpoiat <pepov jxeXtt]Bea xapxov 
Tolatv 0' ev [xeJCTOtat xdi's tpopixtyyt Xcyeq) 70 

570 l^epoev xtOdpt^e - Xfvov 8' uxb xaXbv aetBev 

XexxaXef) 9G>vfj - toi oe Qipacmet; d^apffj 71 

^.oXxf) t' iuy^iuj) Te xocl axaipovTe? exovxo. 

And in it, laden heavily with grapes, 
A vineyard rare, a golden sight, he placed ; 
But black the clusters were from end to end. 
On silver stakes he had it propped right through ; 
On both its sides he drew a deep dark trench, 
And, furthermore, a palisade of tin ; 
And going straight upon the same there was 
A village, that whereby the runners sped 
When they would strip the vineyard of its fruit. 
Maidens and lads (to artless ways inclined) 
In well-knit baskets bore this honeyed fruit ; 
And in their midst a boy with sounding lute 
A sweet air played, and hummed in minor tone 
The heavenly clue : then, then the rest broke in, 
And skirting round they all in chorus joined 
With song and shout and lightly tripping feet. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 225 



NOTES. 

The graving of " Nazareth." 

65. AEMAZ 

He opens with EMAA, an d\uri, /caXi?, 

fi£ya ppldovcra fibrpvac 

/xeKavol j36rpues Tjcrav. 

66. It stands upon idoves dpyvpoc. 

67. He now enlarges his picture to the re- 
quisite size by putting a 

Kvavir) K&ireros on one side (AEMA), 

on the other side (EMAN); 
and also an 
efpjcos Kaairpov on one side (AEMA), 

on the other side (EMAN). 
[Kaairpov, contracted for Kaao-lrepov]. 

68. AEMAN 

In this picture (obtained from the above 
additions), those who run can read 
straight (from the right to left) Nafrx^T 
— "the village" (ofy). "the village" (fiia — 
for ixia has the signification of irpwrr)), 
the one village of all others for Christian 
readers 

69. AEMAI 

The full picture is taken to grave another 
form of "the village" : 
AEMAZ : draXal irapdivoi 

carry TSafaptd 

in 7rXe/crot rdXapoi ; 
AEMA : draXol iftdeoL 

carry Nafr>^T 

in ir\eKrol rdXapoi 

70. Among those is a ird'Cs (EM) playing on 
the \iyis av\6s, and he sings 

the KaXbs \ivos or 'Itjo-^s — 
the thread of all existence, the Way or 
guide through this mundane labyrinth, 
the Key of everlasting life, the Heavenly 
Clue. 

71. The boy sings 'Ir}<r6s, the minor form of 
the Name; but "the maids and lads" 
now break in, and follow with the 'It/o-oOs 
refrain in pxAir-fi (AEMT), Ivy/jAs (AEMA), 
7r65es (AEMAZ). 



Cipher Reading. 



E-MI-AA, E-M1-AA, 

IIAZTVAA, 
EMAA IVAZTVAA nTTVITA. 
I-VA-IAINIAA IIAZAAAA TI-INIAA 

(IIA=E). 
TIINIAA riTAAAA. 



AI-KZNIAA AI-KZVTAA, 
IIAZIVIAN IKIAITVAN; 



IAl-rr-MI-A AIKAAVTA, 
EAA-IAI-V IKAAVTAN. 



AEVTAN. 



AI-TI-IM-AZ AI-TI-INIAAA, 

AI-IAZNIANI, 

Ainr-MI-AZ AIEAAAZ. 

AIEVTA AEIVIA, 

AITNINIA, 

AITIIAAA AI-IAZAAA. 

TI-1TV. 

TITTV IVAZTV. 

IKIAITV IIA-AANI, IIAIAITV. 



IAETVT, AEVVTI, AniMA-IZ. 

lAnrMT, lAniMAi, 

AII-n-MI-AZ. 



226 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

'Ev 6' dysXvjv xocvps @owv dpOoxpaipdwv 72 

at Be ^dsq^puaoTo lezeuyjxio xaaac'xepou xs" 
575 {jluxyjO^gj 0' azb xoxpou execaeuovxo vo^ovos, 73 

xdp xoxajJibv xeXdBovxa, xapd Qooavbv Bovaxfja. 

^puaetot 8s vo^s? a\x scrr/oawo ^oecctv 74 

Teiaape?, ivvsa Se ccpt xuveq xooaq dpyoc sxovto. 

c^epoaXeu) he Xlovxs hu' Iv xpcoxflac (idsaacv 75 

580 Taupov IpuyixrjXov IxItijv* 6 he ^axpd {Le^uxioq 

IXxeTo' tov he xuvsq ^sxexcaGov r\h' al^Yjol. 

tw ixsv dvaQQ-^avTe ^obq ^.sydXoco $oeit]v 76 

eyxaxa xat ^eXav ai^a Xa?uaa£TOV. oi oe vo^eg 

a'6tuq IvSfecav, tor/Jaq xuva<; <kpuvovT£<r 77 

585 ot h' rj-uot Baxlstv ^xsv dxexpwxcovTO Xsovtwv, 

iGTa^svot he {JidX' eyYug uXdxxeov, ex 1' dXsovro. 

In it he placed a drove of straight-horned kine. 
The kine were fashioned out of gold and tin, 
And from their byre rushed lowing to the food 
Beside the sounding stream, the waving reed. 
Ranged with the kine were golden herdsmen four, 
And nine hounds fleet of foot were in the rear. 
Amongst the kine in front, a foaming steer 
Was by two savage-looking lions grasped 
And dragged away, while bellowing loud and long, 
Pursued hot-foot by herdsmen and the dogs. 
The lions, breaking through the great bull's hide, 
Devoured the insides and the clotted blood. 
Quite near the herdsmen pressed (such as they were), 
Hallooing on the swiftest of the dogs, 
Who were too backward in a sense to bite 
The savage pair, though standing very near 
They barked and barked, and kept well out of reach. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 227 



NOTES. 

The graving of "Bethlehem." 

72. AEMAI 

In this is a herd of /36« (AE, EM, MAI), 
all of whom are 6pd6Kpaipoi (AEMAZ), and 
made of XP V0 ~ 0S and Kacrirepos. 

73. They rush from Kbirpos (AE) to the 
■n-orafjAs KeXddwv (AEMA) for BedXifi food; 
and to podavbs 8ovi>ai; (AEMAZ) 

for Be0\e<?/x food; 

74. In line with the oxen are 

XptJcrewi vop-rjes riaaepa (AEMAZ) 
and in the rear are 

ivvia ictves apyliro8es (EMAZ). 

75. Among the kine in front (EMAZ) 
an ipvy/xQv ravpos, 

futKpa fie/wKcbs, 

is grasped by <r/j.ep5vw \iovre, 
and is carried off to AEMI, where we see 
again the ravpos and the Xtovre. 

76. AEMI 

The fioel-q is torn into bits, and 

the eyKar' and p.t\av cup.a 

are devoured for Be0\^u. 

77. AEMI-AZ 

He takes the full picture, and views the 
scene. 

Some of the herdsmen and dogs have 
lagged behind: a few of them ( "such as 
they are," atirus) appear in AZ, where 
the men are crying i'c6 ! Id ! , and the 
dogs are crying /Sou ! — for biting is pre- 
vented by the separation of A into IA. 



Cipher Reading. 



AI-VAZ, IVAZM, AAAZ (A=0). 

IAIIAIVIAAATV (A=0). 

IAI-nAAAZ, AI-KNITVATV. 

AIIVAAA, 

AI1VAZMA AIIANIAAA, AIIIAZMA; 

AEAAAINI AENIAIAA, 

AI-IAZMATV. 

AIEAAAIZ ATIIMANI AI-IAZTVAVT. 
TI-INIANI EN-IAI-AA IVAVTIVIANI. 

IVAZN-IAI-AA n I AAAZ, 
EAAAZ IIAAAMAZ, 
IVANIMAZ TI-INIAAA. 

IAI-VAZIVII, AI-IANIIVII. 

AIEIVII. 

AII-TI-IVII, AI-IAZNII AI-TI-MI. 

AI-VVTVV-TI. 



Al, Al. 
AAA. 



228 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

'Ev Se votxbv xo tufas xeptxXuxcx; 'A^ptyinfatq, 78 

Iv xaXfj ^ifacqf), [xeyav otwv apysvvawv, 
axaG^ioui; ts xXtat'aq xe xanqpscpsat; t'Be aYjxouq. 

And in it, with a valley fair therein, 
The far-renowned Amphiguean made 
The great allotted ground, the stations, tribes, 
And roofed abodes of well-begotten flocks. 



590 'Ev 8s X°P 0V "rcotxtXXs xsptxXmbq ' 'A^pty unfair, 79 

tw t'xsXov olov xot' svt Kvwaao) eupsiyj 
Aa(8aXo<; yfaxirjasv xaXXtxXoxa^G) 'AptaovY]* 
efvOa ^iv iqtGsoi xat xapGivot 'AXcpsat(iotat 80 

wp^euvx', aXX^Xwv sxt xapxw y^elpaq e'xovxsq- 

595 Td)v 0' at \xev Xsxtoc<; oGovaq e'/ov, ot 8s /iTtovas 81 

sYax' siivvrfaouq rjxa oii'X^ovTa? eXaia)' 
xa( p' at [xev xaXa? axscpava<; e^ov, ot 8s ^,a%atpa<; 
efyov xpusslaq e£ dpyupswv TeXa[xwvwv. 
ot 8' 6x1 jjiiv Gpeqacxov ixtaxa^evotat xoBsaatv 82 

600 psta |AaX', ojq 8ts xtq xpo^bv fipjxsvov iv xaXa^fftv 

st^svoq xspa^su? xstpifasxat, at xs Gsflatv 

The famed Amphiguean also made 
In skillful way a roundelay, like that 
Once planned in Gnossian land by Daedalus 
For Ariadne crowned with ringlets fair — 
A dance wherein, hands on each other's wrist 
Alphesiboean maids and youths trolled round, 
Attired respectively in lissome robes 
And well-knit blouses shining smooth with oil ; 
And, while the maids had beauteous wreaths, the youths 
Had gold blades dangling loose from silver belts. 
At times they ran quite smooth with cunning feet 
(As when some potter, at a fit wheel placed, 
Tries it with palms to see how it would go) ; 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 229 



7S 



NOTES. 

The graving- of "Canaan", "Israel", 

"Judah", &c. 

AEMAI 

The full picture gives 'Iwo-acpdr, ("the 
valley fair"); Kaivadv ( " the ground al- 
lotted" for the Jews, the well-begotten 
seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob); 
'laparfK and 'IotfSas (their two great 
states); and their "roofed abodes" or 
towns, Jericho, Nazareth, Bethlehem 
( already pointed), 'Iepo<r6\vp.a, Sexij/x, &c. 
The Jewish tribes are also in it : 
AEMAZ gives Beviafxiv,Za(3ov\d)v,'Iaa.<rx<*P l 

lovSas, 'Iw<7i77ros, TS4<p8ahi, 

and "ZiVfieuv ; 
EMAI ,, 'Aa-qp and 'Tov^v; 
EM „ TdS, Adv and Aei/t. 



79. 



SO. 



81. 



82. 



The graving of " Alleluiah ! " 

AEMAI 

The dominant X of the word is marked 
in TrolniWe, ticeXov, Aal5a\os and KaWnrXo- 
Kaw ; the nature of the word is specified 
by x°P^ v which signifies dancing accom- 
panied by singing ; the letters of the word 
are pointed in 'APIAANE. 

■fjWeoi ( EMAI ) dance to'AXXTjXoOi'a; 

AaKuves irapdivoi (AEMA) ,, ' AWijXma; 
and the x e ?P €S of each (EMA) grasp the 
KapTr6s of the others. 

[ 'AX0ecn'|3otcu, "those dwelling in Boicu on 
the 'AX0e6s," the former being a city 
and the latter a river in Laconia.] 
The 'maids" (AEMA) have XeTrrai 666vai 
and /caXXd. <iTt(pr\ ; 
the "youths" ( EMAI ) have x'T^es 
ivvv-qroi that glitter 
with eXaiov, and 

/j.dxa.ipa.1 xpvvw- suspended 
from i/jLdvres dpyvptoi. 
The pointing of EMAZ (note 80) is an 
example showing how the letters run reg- 
ularly by taking the extremes (I ..T) 

for the initial A, and then moving in 
circular fashion ("like a potter trying a 
wheel" ) until we reach the central TT 
or final I A of 'AXX^XoOia. 



Cipher Reading. 



IAETVAZ; 

AI-TI-INIANI: 



AIEMA-IZ, AniMV-IZ; 



1AIVATVMAIVI, AEMA-IZ. 

IAI-IAZNIANI, AriTAAAINI, AEAAANI, 
AniMA-IZ, AEAAIAZ, AENIAAA, 
AniMAINI; 
EMA-IZ, niAAAINI; 
EVT, TI-INI, TI-IAA. 



APIAIA1A1E. 

EIVIT-IZ, IVAVTTVAAT; 

AI-IANIAAA AIHATVNIA, 

IIAIAIMA, 

1IA-AAAAA. 



AI-VAIVIIVIA. 



AIEVTA AIENIAI, 

Aim-MI-A AEVTA; 

IKZNIAINI 

1IAIAINIANI, 

EAAANI, 

IIAIV1IVIAIVI IKIVIIViAZ 

l-VA-TVNIAIVi IIAZAAAAA. 



230 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

aXXoxe 8' <xu Gpesacxov exl cxc/a; dXXiqXoiffiv. 83 

xoXXb<; 8' ![j.epoevxa /opov xepuaxaO' b'^tXoc, 84 

xepxo^evof ^exa SI <j<pcv e^eXxexo 6eZo<; doioo<; 
605 cpop^fCcov 80 tw 8e XU^taXY)X7)pe xax' auxouq, 

^oXxfj? Isap/ovTs?, IStveuov xaxa ytiacoug. 

At times they backed for partners to the ranks. 
Around this yearning chorus stood entranced 
An endless multitude, and with it sang 
A saintly psalmist playing on the harp ; 
While, 'mongst the same, revolving in the midst 
Were palmers two, the leaders of the chant. 



'Ev 0' sxiOsi xoxajxolo ^lya cOevog 'QxeavoTo 85 

avxuya xap xu^.dxY)v cdxeoq xuxa xonrjxoco. 

Along the close-made shield's hind border, too, 
He placed the ocean-river's mighty strength. 



Auxap IxstOT) xeu^e caxoq jxeya xe axi^apov re, 86 

610 xeu£' apa ol 0a>pY)xa, ipaecvoxepoy xupbq auyrjq - 

xeu£e oe 0? xopu6a §ptctpK]v, xpoxd<poi<; dpapulav, 
xaXi]v, oatoaXetjv exc oe xP^ ae0V X690V ■qxev 
xeGcje oe 0! xvyj^uooc? eavou xaactxepoto. 

But when he made this massive shield and strong, 
A breastplate verily he made him then 
(Brighter, far brighter than the glare of fire) ; 
A helmet too (staunch, fitted for the brain, 
All good, constructed in mysterious way — 
And it was coming for his precious neck) ; 
And greaves likewise, made out of pliant tin. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 231 



83. 



84. 



NOTES. 

AEMAI 

Other 'AXXTjXoOi'a combinations are formed 
from EMAI ( specified by ol, to distin- 
guish it from the A EM A or "maids" com- 
bination) by "going back for a partner", 
thus: I EMAI, AEMAI. 
Around the chorus is many an 

8/uSos (AEA, AEM, AEMA, 
EMAI). 
In this crowd a Mbs dol56s (I EMAI) 

plays 'AXXijXui'a ; 
and through the crowd, and chanting 
the 'AXX^XoOia, go /cD^tcrTijra (AEMAI) — 
two tumblers (AEMA, EMAI, and it is 
to be noted how one is the reverse of 
the other, since AEMA reads EMAI back- 
wards, and vice versa), the respective 
leaders of the "Alleluiah" (note 80). 



The graving of " Hosanna ! ' 

85. AEMAI 

On the &vtv% irvixarr) ( EMAA) is graven 
the irorafAoio /x4ya adivos QKeavoio, 

or 'fiaavvd. 
injfj.aTTj l "the hindmost" border, or cen- 
tral one, since the other two are 
in front of it (note 37). 



86. 



When he made the crdicos (note 37) 

from AEMAI, 
he made for himself (01) a 0w/nj£ (EMAI), 
a Kdpvs (AEM ), 
and KV7i/juSes (AEMAI) — 
Each of which points ' lt]uovs XpurrSs, the 
shield of faith, the breastplate of right- 
eousness (righteousness, that is better 
than the glare of knowledge), the helmet 
of salvation ( a helmet staunch, fit for 
brainy men, the all of goodness, the 
mysterious combination of divinity and 
humanity, who was coming to free man's 
precious neck from slavish sin), and the 
greaves of peace. 



Cipher Reading. 



IIIAAAIVIAIVI, AIVA-II-VIAIVI. 

IAIIAZA, IAI-IAAAM, AriTMA (A=0). 

riTMAI. 

IEMAII IEVTAII, 

IIVAIVIIVIAI; 

AI-VA-II-VIAAA, AI-KVTNIATV. 



IKZNIAA IVAZTVAA. 
IVATVMAA EMAA l-VA-ZNIAA 
IVAIVINIAA, 
l-VA-NINIAA. 



TIIAAAZ; EMAIVT riTMAIiMl. 

AiniAA; AI-IAZVT AIIIAZVT. 

AI-IANIMANI, AniMA-IZ AII-nA-AAIZ. 



232 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Auxap k%e\ tcgcvG' oxXa xajxe y.Xuxb? 'A^tyinqeK;, 87 

615 ^yjxpbq 'AxtXXtjo? Ofjxs xpoxapoiOsv dcetpaq' 

^ 8', tpYjs £><;, aXxo xax' OuXu^xou vtiposvxos, 38 

xeuxsa ^ap^acpovxa nap 'H<pa(axoio cpepouaa. 

But when the famed Amphiguean wrought 
Those weapons every one, he raised them up 
And placed them right in front of her from whom 
Achilles had his birth : then, like a hawk, 
From the Olympian snow-capped mount she flew 
With all the splendent arms by Vulcan made. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 233 



NOTES. 

87. AEMAZ TTVPOI 

His task is finished. 

The AEMAZ is taken up and placed in 
AEMAII, in front of Thetis (JVPOI) who 
has risen from the throne to receive the 
present (note 6) — the Thetis or poetic 
design that gave birth to Achilles and 
his wrath. 

88. Qhis, like an Up*%, seizes the 

defeat ( rVPOI ), 
and flies with the armor from 

Ov\v/j.ttos vupoeis (AEMAZ I). 






Cipher Reading. 



note 6. rVIOOZ, 



rv-ioioz. 



AinrMAAAl (A=0), AI-nNIAII. 



234 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



CHAPTER X. 
Selections (Latin). 

Mneid % II. 671—804. 

The picture matter all through the book is obtained from 
the first verse, 

Conticuere omnes intentique ora tenebant. 

In this selection the full picture is divided into the fol- 
lowing groups : 

NTICVERE OMNE. Anchises having refused to leave Troy, 
Vergil (always the pious Aeneas of his story) is rush 
ing back to battle with the foe, but is detained by "the 
spouse" with "lulus" in her arms. 

The marvellous occurs : "lulus" is enveloped with the 
light of "Jesus," and this sign is quickly confirmed by 
the addition of "Christ" from the neighboring characters 
on the left. 

The close proximity of the two signs is pointed out by 
"the author," who declares himself "a follower of the 
Son." 

The trysting spot (ora ten), at the close of the verse, is 
described and preparations for flight commence. 

EOMNE. "Vergil" is seen, with "Anchises" on his back and 
"lulus" by his side. 

SINTEN. The journey of the three (in the foregoing relative 
positions) begins. 

TENTIQVE. They approach "the city's gates." 



IN HOMER, HESlOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 235 

ORA TEN. They reach thetrysting spot. "The spouse" is 
missing, and Vergil goes back to find her. 

NTICVERE OMNES INTENTIQVE. What he saw during 
the search — at the gates, through the city, at "the 
home," and in Juno's sanctuary. 

CONTICV. The ghost of "Creusa" appears, explains her un- 
timely end, foretells the future, and admonishes him 
"to love the Son who claims us both." 

ORA TENEBANT. Returning to the trysting spot, he once 
more picks up Anchises, and faces his course towards 
the distant "Ida." 



236 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

1. Conticuere omnes intentique ora tenebant. 

671. Hinc ferro accingor rursus clypeoque sinistram 
Insertabam aptans, meque extra tecta ferebam; 
Ecce autem complexa pedes in limine conjunx 
Haerebat, parvumque patri tendebat Iulum : 

675. "Si periturus abis, et nos rape in omnia tecum ; 

Sin aliquam expertus sumptis spem ponis in armis, 
Hanc primum tutare domum. Cui parvus lulus, 
Cui pater, et conjunx quondam tua dicta relinquor?' 
Talia vociferans gemitu tectum omne replebat, 

680. Quum subitum dictuque oritur mirabile monstrum : 
Namque manus inter maestorumque ora parentum 
Ecce levis summo de vertice visus Iuli 
Fundere lumen apex, tactuque innoxia molli 
Lambere flamma comas et circum tempora pasci. 

685. Nos pavidi trepidare metu crinemque flagrantem 
Excutere, et sanctos restinguere fontibus ignes. 
At pater Anchises oculos ad sidera laetus 
Extulit, et caelo palmas cum voce tetendit : 



Again I'm girt with armor: in the shield 

My left hand placing, I made haste to go 

Beyond the house; but at the entrance, lo! 

My consort, clinging to my feet, held fast 

And to the father young lulus stretched : 

"If bent on ruin thou dost venture, then 

Take us with thee to all that may betide ; 

But if through tried experience thou dost place 

Hope in the weapons thou hast donned, guard first 

The home. To whom is young lulus left? 

To whom thy father? And to whom am I, 

Thy whilom mentioned spouse, abandoned now?" 

While speaking thus, she filled the house with shrieks ; 
When swift occurs a marvel strange to tell, 
For, midst his grieving parents' hands and cries, 
Lo ! the soft top-knot of lulus' crown 
Is seen to grow illumined, and the flame 
(With touch so mild that inoffensive 'tis) 
To lick his locks and feed around his brows. 
With holy awe are we too struck to fear, 
Too struck to brush aside the flaming lock 
And with pure water quench the fire divine. 
But at the stars Anchises joyful looked 
And, palms and speech to heaven directed, cried : 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 237 



NOTES. 

1. The key line. 

2. NTICVERE OMNE 

Vergilius (NTICVER) is girt with ferrum, 
and has the sinistra in clypeus. 

3. His pedes (TICVER) are restrained by the 
conjunx (EOMNE), who holds towards 
him the parvus lulus (EOMV). 

4. She entreats him to remain as he is (NTI- 
CVER), and guard "the home" or Nasret. 
Cui relinquor? While chronology blushed 
at the proceeding, the up-to-date christ- 
ian reader answered the question (as the. 
poet intended he should) by pointing the 
lustful Caesar from the conjunx com- 
bination. 

5. The Nazareth " home " is filled with 
gemitus. 

6. A flamma (EOMV) with mollis tactus 

licks the comae and caput of "lulus" 
(note 3), and the levis apex pours forth 
the light of Iesous. 

7. metus (EOMV) forbids them from touch- 
ing the urens crinis, or from quenching 
the sancti ignes with aqua. 

8. The laetus Anchises (EOMNE) lifts both 
oculi (EOM) and palmae (EOMNE) to- 
wards heaven, and prays that the pre- 
ceding "Jesus" sign may be confirmed 
by another sign. 



Cipher Reading. 



IV-TI-CVFIDV, l-VT-ICVFIR; 

NTI-CV-IT-IDV, N-TI-CVFIR. 

TI-CVEDV, 

VIVONINVIV (V-IVI=CS or X) 

LIIOVVV FIOMV. 

N-TI-CV-EDV. 



EOVVNE. 



IV-TI-CV-TTR. 

IVVSOIVIV (E=IKS), 

VIVOTVV TTOVTV, 
IIVSOIVIV, EOVTV; 
FIOMV EOVVV, 
LIIONIV. 
TTOMV, 

FIONIV VIVONIV; 
TTONIV LII-ONIV, FIOMV. 
EONIIVE IVVSOTVNI-TI (TI-TI=A-H), 
FIOVV, EOVV-IVI-TI. 



2 3 8 



THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



"Jupiter omnipotens, precibus si flecteris ullis, 
690. Aspice nos : hoc tantum ; et, si pietate meremur, 

Da deinde auxilium, pater, atque haec omina firma." 
Vix ea fatus erat senior, subitoque fragore 9 

Intonuit laevum, et de caelo lapsa per umbras 

Stella facem ducens multa cum luce cucurrit. 10 

695. Illam summa super labentem culmina tecti 

Cernimus Idaea claram se condere silva 

Signantemque vias; turn longo limite sulcus 

Dat lucem, et late circum loca sulphure fumant. 

Hie vero victus genitor se tollit ad auras, 
700. Affaturque deos et sanctum sidus adorat : 

"lam, jam nulla mora est. Sequor, et qua ducitis adsum, 11 

Di patrii : servate domum, servate nepotem : 

Vestrum hoc augurium, vestroque in numine Troja est. 

Cedo equidem, nee, nate, tibi comes ire recuso." 
705. Dixeratille; et jam per maenia clarior ignis 12 

Auditur, propiusque aestus incendia volvunt. 



"Almighty Jove! if swayed by vows thou be, 
Look down on us : this much I crave ; and then, 
If through our pious work we merit grace, 
Help us, O father, and those signs confirm." 

Scarce spoke the ancient when, with sudden crash, 
It thundered on the left ; and, gliding swift 
From high, a star that bears a blazing trail 
Rushed through the darkness with exceeding light. 
Gliding above the summits of our home, 
We see it clearly hide in Ida's grove 
And pointing out the ways : the furrow then, 
With its extensive train, gives forth the light ; 
And spots both far and near with sulphur smoke. 
Now, by the truth o'ercome, to greater heights 
Our author rises, thus bespeaks the gods, 
And pays his homage to the holy sign : 

"No stoppage now, no stoppage now there is. 
I follow, and am where you lead, O gods : 
This home guard well ; guard well this coming One : 
This sign's your own, and in your hands is Troy. 
To thee, O Son, I give myself in full, 
And own that I am follower of thine." 

He spoke ; and now the fire is clearer heard 
Along the walls, while nearer, nearer yet, 
The conflagration rolls the gaseous surge. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 239 



NOTES. 

9. NTICVERE OMNE 

subitario fragore (NTICVER) 

tonavit sinistra. 

10. The passage of "the star" is described : 
NTICVE — a Stella or cometa, a star with 
blazing trail, rushes through umbrae.with 

the great light of Cristos: 
TICVED — gliding over the tops of "Naza- 
reth" (note 4), the cometa emits 
the same light of Cristos: 
TICVER — inTroica silva.the same cometa 
spends its strength "by point- 
ing out the various ways" in 
which the Name can be written, 
Cristos, Creistos, Christos: 
NTICVER — the whole track or furrow 
ploughed by "the star" gives the 
light of Christos : 
and (suggestive of the "h") all 
around is sulphur. 

11. "sequor": Anchises (EOMNE I follows the 
Cristiani (NTICVER), and is also present 
in their combination. The "author" 
points out how ' 'Christ Jesus" reads con- 
tinuously ("without a stop") in NTICVER 
EOMV; how the latter Name is the nepos 
(EOMV)or "He who is to come"; how the 
former is guarded in the same NTICVER 
that contains Cristiani and Nasret (al- 
ready pointed) and "Troy" or Salem; and 
concludes by declaring himself "a fol- 
lower of the Son". 

12. ignis (EOM, OMN, MNE1 rages along the 
moenia (EOMNE); incendia roll aestus 
rearer. 



Cipher Reading. 



NTICVEICV IV-TI-CVLIIR 
N-TI-CV-FIDV note 2 

IVTI-CV-IIVS IVTI-CV-IIVS, 

l-VT-ICVIIVS, 

IVTICVIS. 

TI-CV-IIVSIC, 

TICVISIC. 

TICVER TI-CV-FIR, TI-CVT-TI-CV, 



TICVTTR, TI-CVIVVSDV, TI-CVIVVSDV. 



N-TI-CVISDV. 

IV-TI-CVVIVR (IVI=M or S). 

note 8. 

NTICVI-TI-ICV, N-TI-CVIVV-SI-OV. 



TI-IONIV. 



N-TI-CVER. 



VI-VO-NI, CCIVIN, IVIN-LII. 
TI-IOMNE; ICSONINE TI-IOMNI-TI. 



2 4 o THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

"Ergo age, care pater, cervici imponere nostrae : 
Ipse subibo humeris, nee me labor iste gravabit. 
Quo res cumque cadent, unum et commune periclum, 

710. Una salus ambobus erit. Mihi parvus lulus 
Sit comes, et longe servet vestigia conjunx. 
Vos, famuli, quae dicam animis advertite vestris. 13 

Est urbe egressis tumulus templumque vetustum 
Desertae Cereris, juxtaque antiqua cupressus 

715. Religione patrum multos servata per annos: 
Hanc ex diverso sedem veniemus in unam. 
Tu, genitor, cape sacra manu patriosque Penates: 14 

Me, bello e tanto digressum et caede recenti, 
Attrectare nefas, donee me flumine vivo 

720. Abluero." 

Haec fatus, latos humeros subjectaque colla 15 

Veste super fulvique insternor pelle leonis, 
Succedoque oneri ; dixtrae se parvus lulus 
Implicuit sequiturque patrem non passibus aequis; 

725. Pone subit conjux. Ferimur per opaca locorum ; 



"Come then, dear father, get thee on my neck, 
And with submissive shoulders thee I'll bear; 
Nor will such burden be a weight to me. 
Whate'er betides, let it be weal or woe, 
'Twill be the same and common for us both. 
The young lulus will my comrade be; 
My consort can from far observe our tracks. 
And you, my friends, attend to what I'll say. 
For those who leave the city there's a mount, 
And an old shrine of Ceres lonely left ; 
And close thereby an ancient cypress, saved 
For countless years by forbears' watchful care : 
To this one spot we'll come from various points. 
Take thou, my being's author, in thy hand 
Those holy vessels and small images: 
Till I have cleansed me in the living stream, 
Not right that I should touch them — I just come 
From war of such kind and from slaughter fresh." 

Those words pronounced, protecting with a robe 
And tawny lion's skin my shoulders broad 
And lowered neck, I stoop beneath my load ; 
To my right hand the young lulus clung, 
And follows with uneven steps his sire ; 
Well in the rear my consort takes her place. 
Throughout the precincts' gloom we wend our way; 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC 



241 



NOTES. 

13. The trysting spot, ORA TEN, is now in- 
dicated. 

It is outside "the city" or Ierusalem 
(INTENTIQVE) ; it contains a tumulus 
and an Eleusis (ORATEN) or "Shrine of 
Ceres"; and close beside is an antiqua 
cupressus (RATEN) — the pointing of 
which is obtained by using the obsolete 
IKS (instead of I CS) for E. 

14. Into the mantis (EONIN) of Anchises are 
entrusted the sacra and icones (the "pe- 
nates", ikons or small images of saintly 
men who lived in past ages). 

15. EOMNE 

Vergilius gets under "Anchises" : the 
humeri are covered by a vestis ( EO M N E) ; 
the colla (EOM) are protected by a 

pellis fulvi leonis. 
lulus (IE) goes with him on the right, 
and follows him on the left (EOMV. note 
3), with a two-step and four-step succes- 
sive motion. 
The conjux (REON) is behind. 



Cipher Reading. 



IIVTFIIV-TI-QVE. ORIVT-LII-IV, 

ORATFIN. 

I C VAT EN 

ICVVITIVVSN. 



LIIOMN 
EOVVN, 



TI-IONIIV. 



TI-IOVVNVIV, 

IS-OMIVE (IS=IT or H), LII-OV-TIVE; 

VIVOIVI, 

ICSOVV FIOVV IIV-CCONI. 

IIIVCC. 



242 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Et me, quern dudum non ulla injecta movebant 16 

Tela neque adverso glomerati ex agmine Graii, 
Nunc omnes terrent aurae, sonus excitat omnis, 
Suspensum et pariter comitique onerique timentem. 

730. Jamque propinquabam portis, omnemque videbar 17 

Evasisse viam, subito quum creber ad aures 
Visus adesse pedum sonitus, genitorque per umbram 
Prospiciens, "Nate," exclamat, "fuge, nate; propinquant ; 
Ardentes clypeos atque aera micantia cerno." 

735. Hie mihi nescio quod trepido male numen amicum 
Confusam eripuit mentem : namque avia cursu 
Dum sequor et nota excedo regione viarum, 
Heu ! misero conjunx f atone erepta Creusa 
Substitit, erravitne via seu lassa resedit 

740. Incertum. Nee post oculis est reddita nostris, 
Nee prius amissam respexi animamque reflexi 
Quam tumulum antiquae Cereris sedemque sacratam 
Venimus: hie demum collectis omnibus una 18 

Defuit, et comites natumque virumque fefellit. 



And now, on tenter hooks and anxious both 
For him I bear and him who goes with me, 
The breezes every one, and every sound, 
Alarm and fright me — me whom but of late 
No showered darts, no serried band of Greeks 
From each opposing force one hair's breadth moved. 
The portals presently I neared, and seemed 
To have surmounted the whole journey, when 
The hurried sound of feet struck on the ear, 
And, peering through the mists, my father cries 
"Haste, haste, my son! they're close at hand; I see 
The shining bucklers and the glinting brass." 

Here, much alarmed at what I do not know, 
Some force unkind my clouded sense destroyed ; 
For, while I follow shortcuts in my course 
And from the paths' familiar region swerve, 
Creusa, my spouse, snatched it may be supposed 
By cruel fate, alas ! remained behind ; 
And 'tis a question that admits of doubt 
If from the path she strayed, or sank fatigued. 
Nor eyes set we upon her after this ; 
Nor did I note or think of her as lost, 
Until we reached the mount and holy shrine 
Of ancient Ceres. 'Mongst all gathered here 
She proved to be the only missing one, 
And dashed the hopes of husband, son and friends. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 243 



NOTES. 

16. EOMNE SINTEN 

Passing through the opaca ( EOMN, 
OMNE), they (Vergilius, with Ancises 
over him and lulus on the right in EN) 
proceed through SINTEN — where the 
aurae ( SINTEV, INTEN ) and sonus 
(SINTE, NTEN ) alarm him for the well- 
being of his triple combination. 

17. TENTIQVE ORA 

Moving on to TENTIQV (where we still see 
Vergilius, Ancises.. and lulus in VTIQV), 
they approach the portae (NTIQVE), 
and hear the hurried sound of the dactyl 
"oraten". 

Anchises, perceiving the clypei and aera 
(EORA) through umbra, cries (from his 
position) nate nate, fuge (TENT, TENTI, 
VTIQV). 

18. ORA TEN 

Hurrying on, they reach the trysting 
spot, where Vergilius deposits Anchises : 
he looks around and sees Ascanius (ORA- 
TEN), the famuli (RATEN), sacra and 
icones (ATEN) ; all are here except the 
conjunx. 



Cipher Reading. 

EOIV1IV, 

OIVIIVE. CCIIVTLIIIV, SI-N-TI-IVSN, 

IVCCN. 

SI-IVTEV, MV-TI-TI-IV; 

CCiNTFI (CII=S), NTFIIV. 



TVIVIV-TI-QV, TI-IVSN-TI-QV, VTIQV. 
IV-TI-QVI-TI. 



FIORVI EORA, 
LII-ODVVI. 
TI-TI-NT, TEN-TI, 
V-TI-QV. 



ORATVIVIV, ODVVI-TI-IVSN: 
ODVATI-TI-N, 
RV-IT-LII-IV, ATLIIIV, 
ATVIVN. 



244 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

745. Quern non incusavi amens hominumque deorumque ! 

Aut quid in eversa vidi crudelius urbe ! 

Ascanium Anchisenque patrem Teucrosque Penates 

Commendo sociis et curva valle recondo. 

Ipse urbem repeto et cingor fulgentibus armis ; 
750. Stat casus renovare omnes, omnemque reverti 

Per Troiam, et rursus caput objectare periclis. 

Principio muros obscuraque limina portae 19 

Qua gressum extuleram repeto, et vestigia retro 

Observata sequor per noctem, et lumine lustro : 
755. Horror ubique animos, simul ipsa silentia terrent. 

Inde domum, si forte pedem, si forte tulisset, 20 

Me refero : inruerant Danai et tectum omne tenebant. 

Ilicet ignis edax summa ad fastigia vento 

Volvitur; exsuperant flammae, furit aestus ad auras. 
760. Procedo et Priami sedes arcemque revise 21 



Whom, whom of gods and mortals did I not 

Madly upbraid; or what more cruel blow 

Did I experience in the pillaged town ! 

Commending to my friends Ascanius, 

Father Anchises and the Trojan gods, 

I hide them in an undulating vale. 

To seek again the city I'm resolved, 

And with refulgent armor am I fenced : 

My mind's made up all hazards to renew, 

To trace my course back through the whole of Troy, 

And once again in danger put my head. 

The ramparts and dim thresholds of the gate 
Through which I made my exit, first I seek, 
And follow back the tracks kept through the night, 
And in the glare around me view the sights : 
The horrid bloodshed visible all round 
And boding stillness terrify the mind. 
Then since she might, it may be might have bent 
Her steps towards our home, I hie me there : 
The Greeks had entered it — Greeks held it all ; 
Consuming fire is at its pleasure rolled 
By windy blasts up to the furthest peaks ; 
Flames triumph, and the surge blots out the sky. 
Still onward, and I take a backward look 
At Priam's quarters and the citadel. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 245 



NOTES. 

E OMNES INTENTIQVE ORA TEN 

Leaving them in a tortilis valles (ORA- 
TEN), he goes back to the muri (QVE) 
and limina portae (NTIQVE), follows the 
vestigia (ESINTE) and walks in lumen 
(EOMN). 

Horros (EOMN, ESI NT, ENTIQV) and 
silentium (EOMNESIN, TENTIQVE) are 
prevalent. 

NTICVER 
He proceeds to "the home" (note 4) : 
Ellenes have possession of it. 
ventus (NTICVER) has rolled the vulcanus 
to the summa fastigia : 
flammae and aestus override the whole. 
Moving beyond "the home", he looks 
hack at Pergama (NTICVER), "the cita : 
del and quarters of Priam". 



Cipher Reading. 

ORVITISN ORV-IT-LIIIV (OV=S). 

QVIS, 

N-TI-QV-LII IV-TI-QVI-TI ; 

LIISIIVTI-TI; ECCMN. 

TI-IOVVIV, VIVCCII-VT, VV-IIV-TI-QV; 
LII-OMNESIIV, TI-TINT1QV-LII. 



N-TI-CVIIVSDV. 

NTICVI-TI-R (IVI=S), N-TI-CVFIICV, 
N-TI-CV-LII-R IV-TI-CV-TI-IDV: 
IV-TI-CVIVVSDV (ID=A), N-TI-CV-EDV. 

IV-TI-CVICSDV. 



246 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Et jam porticibus vacuis Junonis asylo 22 

Custodes lecti, Phoenix et dims Ulyxes, 
Proedam adservabant : hue undique Troia gaza 
Incensis erepta adytis, mensaeque deorum, 

765. Crateresque auro solidi, captivaque vestis 

Congeritur. Pueri et pavidae longo ordine matres 
Stant circum. 

Ausus quin etiam voces jactare per umbram, 
Implevi clamore vias, moestusque Creusam 

770. Nequidquam ingeminans iterumque iterumque vocavi. 
Quaerenti et tectis urbis sine fine furenti, 
Infelix simulacrum atque ipsius umbra Creusae 23 

Visa mihi ante oculos, et nota major imago. 
Obstupui, steteruntque comae, et vox faucibus haesit ! 

775. Turn sic adfari et curas his demere dictis : 
"Quid tantum insano juvat indulgere dolori, 
O dulcis conjunx? Non haec sine numine divum 
Eveniunt. Nee te hinc comitem asportare Creusam 
Fas aut ille sinit superi regnator Olympi. 24 



In Juno's very sanctuary and 

Its vestibules (for refuge useless now!), 

Phoenix and dire Ulysses, chosen guards, 

Were doing sentry o'er the plundered spoil : 

Here, piled up here in all directions is 

The wealth of Troy from its charred temples stripped, 

The gods' own tables, goblets all of gold, 

And rifled raiment — while, in long array 

Youngsters and speechless matrons stand around. 

Yet through the darkness did I dare to shout ; 
I filled the streets with clamor loud, and called 
Despairingly on Creusa's name, in vain 
Repeating it again and yet again. 
While thus unceasingly I searched and stormed 
Throughout the city's structures, Creusa's own 
Sad spectre, ghost and image swoln beyond 
Her well-known shape, appeared before my sight. 
With hair on end I stood dumbfoundered, dazed ! 
Then thus she seemed to speak, and with the words 
To lift from me a heavy load of care : 

"What boots it to indulge in such mad grief, 
O spouse beloved ? Those things do not occur 
Without the preappointment of the gods. 
To take thy Creusa as companion hence 
Is not permitted by what's foreordained, 
Nor yet by him, the lord of .upper air. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 247 



NOTES, 

NTICVER 

In the asylum Lucinae and its 
portices inutiles are Paenix and 

atrox Ulysses, guarding the booty 
snatched from the exusta templa of 
Salem : 
mensae Judaeorum, 

auripleni crateres, 

captiva vestis. 

All around are matres (NTICVER) and 
pueri (NTICV, ER) 

CONTICV 

Creusa appears (magnified somewhat). 
The foreordained plot (fas) of the 
story, and Augustus (the super i reg- 
nator Olympi), demand that Creusa 
must die so that Aeneas might be free 
to wed Lavinia in Italy, and Augustus 
be able to trace his pedigree back to 
lulus. 



Cipher Reading. 



IV-TI-CV-LII-R N-TI-CVI-TI-R, 
IVTICVI-TI-R NTI-CV-EICV; 

N-TI-CVEICV, 
IVTICVER NTICVEDV (TV=S). 
N-TI-CVI-TI-ICV IVTICVI-TI-R, 
note 11 

N-TI-CV-IIVSDV IV-TI-CV-IVVSDV, 
N-TI-CVI-TI-ICV N-TI-CV-TI-IIOV 
IV-TI-CV-F-ID-V (CV=S or T) 

NTI-CV-ER. 
N-TI-CVEDV, 
IV-TI-CV, IC-SI-CV. 

CON-TI-CV- 



248 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

780. Longa tibi exilia, et vastum maris aequor arandum ; 

IEt terram hesperiam venies, ubi Lydius arva 25 

Inter opima virum leni fluit agmine Thybris: 
Illic res laetae, regumque et regia conjunx 
Parta tibi. Lachrymas dilectae pelle Creusae. 

785. Non ego Myrmidonum sedes Dolopumve superbas 26 

Aspiciam, aut Graiis servitum matribus ibo, 
Dardanis et divae Veneris nurus : 
Sed me magna deum genitrix his detinet oris. 
Jamque vale, et nati serva communis amorem." 

790. Haec ubi dicta dedit, lachrymantem et multa volentem 
Dicere deseruit, tenuesque recessit in auras. 27 

Ter conatus ibi collo dare brachia circum : 
Ter frustra comprensa manus effugit imago, 
Par levibus ventis volucrique simillima somno. 

795. Sic demum socios consumpta nocte reviso; 28 

Atque hie ingentem comitum adfluxisse novorum 
Invenio admirans numerum, matresque virosque, 
Collectam exilio pubem, miserabile vulgus: 



Far, far thy rovings, and the watery plain 
Must be traversed; thou'lt reach a western land 
Where, running through its people's fertile fields, 
The gently winding Lydian Thybris flows : 
Stored there in wait for thee are joyful things, 
A kingdom, and a spouse of royal race. 
For thy loved Creusa wipe away those tears. 
Dardan and nurse of Venus that I am, 
No Myrmidons' or Dolopes' proud courts 
Shall I behold, no Grecian matrons serve: 
The gods' great mother keeps me on those shores. 
Farewell ! farewell ! and evermore maintain 
Thy love of Him, the Son who claims us both." 
When thus she spoke, while all in tears was I 
And wishing to say much, she disappeared 
And vanished into mist. Thrice then and there 
I tried to fold my arms around her neck; 
Thrice grasped in vain the image fled my hands, 
Like filmy zephyrs, and most like of all 
A fleeting dream. And so, the night quite spent, 
At length I turn my comrades to rejoin ; 
And, there arrived, I find to my surprise 
A crowd of new companions had flocked in, 
Women and men, the young of either sex, 
For exile clubbed — a miserable throng : 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 249 



NOTES. 

25. HESPERIA. There are many things in 
this "Western land" to glad the hearer's 
heart, and among others are Iudaea 
"the Kingdom", and Maria (PERIA) "the 
spouse of David's royal race". 

26. Creusa (CONTICV), sprung from Tros and 
Ilus (CONTandTICV), and the nurse of 
Venus (CONTICV), is kept where she is 
by the following ERE which points Cybele 
or Eua, "the great mother of the gods". 

27. She changes into nebula — and (strive 
as he may) cannot be clasped by "Ver- 
gilius". 

28. ORATEN EB 

He returns to the trysting spot, and 
finds new arrivals there (EB) — matres, 
viri, and pubes ; all ready for trans- 
ference, wretched to look at, but pre- 
pared (through their dialectical, allo- 
tropic and divisional capabilities) for any 
and every change. 



Cipher Reading. 



DI-EDVIA, 
ICI-ERIA. 



CONT, TICV; 

CON-TI-CV. 

TI-IICVLII, 

ERE. 

CON-TI-CV. 



IIVSIOIO, 
LIIB, IIVSICC. 



250 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Undique convenere, animis opibusque parati 
800. In quascumque velim pelago deducere terras. 

Iamque jugis sumniae surgebet Lucifer Idae 29 

Ducebatque diem, Danaique obsessa tenebant 
Limina portarum ; nee spes opis ulla dabatur : 
Cessi, et sublato montem genitore petivi. 30 

From every quarter did they come, prepared 
With might and main for whatsoever climes 
I may desire to shape my course by sea. 

Now Lucifer o'er lofty Ida's tops 
Was rising, and with it the dawn of day ; 
Danai held the portals' entries blocked ; 
No hope of aid was left: I yielded then, 
And, lifting up my father, sought the mount. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 251 



NOTES. 

29. NTIQVE ORATEN EBANT 

He looks forward, and sees how Lucifer 
(EBAV), appearing over the juga (ANT) 
of I Da (IT.), is bringing the dawn of 
Dies (IT..). 

He looks backward, and marks how the 
portae (NTIQVE) are held by Danai. 

30. Vergilius, lifting up Anchises (ORATEN) 
and grasping lulus (EN) with his right 
hand, proceeds towards the distant 
"Ida". 



Cipher Reading. 



VIVPCAV. 
IVV-IT. 



note 17, 
note 18. 
ICCCN. 



N-TI-QV-TI-I (QV=S, T or D). 



252 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Horace. I. Od. 5. 

Scheme : In a stable at Bethlehem a child would be born 
of a Jewish woman. This child would be the 
the merciful God who offered himself from the 
the beginning to redeem mankind, and part of 
whose penalty ("multa") was that He should 
come on earth as a helpless babe and see, when 
grown, the infidelity, idolatry and wickedness 
of those He came to save : this woman would 
be Mary, a simple maiden and a spotless virgin. 
Such was the revery of our poet, and such the 
theme that inspired his present ode. 

Quis multa gracilis te puer in rosa I 

Perfusus liquidis urguet odoribus 
Grato, Pyrrha, sub antro? 

Cui flavam religas comam 

5. Simplex munditiis? Heu quoties fidem 2 

Mutatosque deos flebit et aspera 
Nigris aequora ventis 

Emirabitur insolens. 

Qui nunc te fruitur credulus aurea? 3 

10. Qui semper vacuam, semper amabilem 
Sperat nescius aurae 

Fallacis? Miseri, quibus 

What Child, so weak through penalty imposed, 
Laved with the perfumes flowing in the rose, 
What Child, O Pyrrha, nestles close to thee 
Within the sheeling that has welcome proved ? 

Whose golden hair 
Dost thou, so free from all display, brush back? 

How oft, alas ! how oft will He deplore 

The changing faith and gods changed with each faith ; 

How oft will He, retired within the peace 

Of his own being, marvel greatly at 

Earth's broad domains 
Unsightly made by flaws of blackest dye. 

Who now takes silly pleasure in the thought 
That thou art one among the gilded crowd? 
Who now, possessed by total ignorance 
Of that afflatus which disguises truth, 

Expects that thou 
Art ever wanton, ever light of love ? 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 253 



NOTES. 

PVER 

This, his picture, contains Betlem and 
equile, where Iesous is pressed upon 
Maria ( who is appropriately styled 
Pyrrha or pura) ; 

and the following succession of ana- 
grams is formed from the word : 
Quis multa gracilis puer, 

rosa perfusus liquidis odoribus, 



urguet s 



Cujus flavam religas comara? 



An allusion to the numerous false be- 
liefs and equally numerous deities in 
Assyria, Egypt, Persia, India, Greece, 
Rome, and every other land outside 
Judea. 

The reader who thinks that the Pyrrha 
of his poem is either one of Rome's 
patrician class, or a meretricious cour- 
tesan, is a victim of his own credulty, 
knows not the elusiveness and 
efficiency of the afflatus (aura is 
pointed in PVER) which inspires his 
poem, and merits nothing but pity and 
contempt. 



Cipher Reading. 



ICI-VTIIIOV, 
DI-VEICV. DIVEDV, 
DI-VEI-CV, 
DI-VEICV, PVER. 



PV-FIR PV-IT-MCV ICIVITIICV PVER, 
IOIVER ICIV-IT-IICCV ICVITIDV 

IOIVLIIIOV, 
ICVEICV 
PVISR ICI-VLIIIOV IOIVEICV 

ICI-VL-IIIOV. 



254 



THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 



Intentata nites ! Me tabula sacer 
Votiva paries indicat uvida 
5. Suspendisse potenti 

Vestimenta maris deo. 



Oh ! objects they of pity and contempt 
To whom thou loomest thus, O Virgin maid ! 
The sacred wall with votive tablet marks 
The juicy outfits I have offered up 

To Him who holds 
Wide ocean in the hollow of his hand. 



III. Od. 1. 



Scheme : Through the ingenious application of his 
own name he marks the picture word, plays upon it with 
a series of anagrams, and then lauds the omnipotence of 
Him who destroyed the antediluvian giants. 

This leads naturally up to the story : how this omni- 
potent God would come in human form to spread the 
light on earth, would come a supplicant for mortals' souls, 
would labor to that end with speech and miraculous 
deeds, and preach to all men "Follow me!" 

After the usual tribute to Augustus Caesar, the poet 
proceeds to grave the Name in every possible combination 
of his picture's letters, and closes with the straight read- 
ing of "Jesus." 

Odi profanum vulgus et arceo. 1 

Favete Unguis : carmina non prius 
Audita musarum sacerdos 

Virginibus puerisque canto. 
5. Regum timendorum in proprios greges: 2 

Reges in ipsos imperium est Jovis 
Clari giganteo triumpho, 

Cuncta supercilio moventis. 

I hate and shun the irreligious crowd. 
Attentive hear me : I, the muses' priest, 
To maids and youths sing strains 
Not erstwhile heard. 
Dread kings their subjects rule; Jove rules these kings, 
The Jove whose might by giants' overthrow 
Was signalized, whose nod 
Creation moves. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 255 



NOTES. 

4. intentata, "untried, virginal." 

5. He expects that his theme ("the Child") 
ought to be sufficient in itself to mark 
"puer" as the picture word; but now, 
to make assurance doubly sure, he re- 
fers more pointedly to it as the sacer 
paries (on which he has glued his 
eyes while writing), and the votiva 
tabula on which he has inscribed this 
mental offering to the Almighty. 



PROFAN 

By taking this for a picture, he gets 
his own name, Horatius, and drives 
off the "profanum vulgus." The pic- 
ture is outlined by the following ana- 
grams : 
carmina hactenus inaudita, 

musarum sacerdos, 

virginibus, pueris, 

cantito 
He specifies it further, and leads up 
to his subject by remarking that reges 
are greater than greges ( ROFAN than 
VOFAN ), and Jehovah greater than 
reges (PROFAN than ROFAN )- 
clarus giganteo triumpho, 

universa supercilio 

movens. 



Cipher Reading. 



DI-VEDV, 
DI-V-TI-IDV, 
IOVEDV, 
ICIVI-TI-DV. 



ICDVO-TI-AN. 



ICROVVAN ICIDVO-T.I-AN DIROTIAN, 
ICI-CVOVVAN IOIROTIAIV, 
PICVOTIVIN, PROFAIV (FV=S), 
ICDVOFAN (VF=S or T). 

RO-TI-V-IIV, 

VOVVAN. 

DI-RO-TI-AIV. 

ICRO-FV-IIV ICDVO-TI-AN 

ICDVO-TI-V-IIV 
ICDVOFAN ICIROVVVIIV 
ICI-ROVVAN. 



256 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Est ut viro vir latius ordinet 
10. Arbusta sulcis hie generosior, 

Descendat in campum petitor, 
Moribus hie meliorque fama 
Contendat, illi turba clientium 
Sit major. Aequa lege Necessitas 
15. Sortitur insignes et imos ; 

Omne capax movet urna nomen. 
Districtus ensis cui super impia 
Cervice pendet, non Siculae dapes 
Dulcem elaborabunt saporem, 
20. Non avium citharaeque cantus 

Somnum reducent. Somnus agrestium 
Lenis virorum non humiles domos 
Fastidit umbrosamque ripam, 
Non zephyris agitata Tempe. 
25. Desiderantem quod satis est neque 
Tumultuosum sollicitat mare, 
Nee saevus Arcturi cadentis 

Impetus aut orientis Hoedi: 



Tis fated that as Man, of nobler birth, 
He must for man the vineyards sow with light 
More widely, and come down, 
A supplicant, 
Unto this warring plain ; that He, in ways 
Superior and in speech, must labor here 
So that his following 
May greater be. 
Necessity, with law alike for all, 
Metes out the lofty — and the most debased 
(The comprehensive urn 
Moves every name) : 
For him o'er whose vile neck the drawn sword hangs, 
Sicilian feasts will make no savor sweet, 
The thrills of birds or harp 
Will not bring Rest. 
Mild Rest does not despise the humble homes 
Of laborers, the river's shady bank, 
Nor Tempe fanned by puffs 
Of balmy air. 
The surf-tossed sea, Arcturus' onset fierce 
When setting, or the Kid's when looming up, 
Thwart not the one who craves 
What doth suffice : 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 257 



NOTES. 
3. The "priest of the muses" prophesies. 



4. ROFAN 

'Avdyicn ( ROFAN ) and the equal fas 
(RO, FAN) shakes out from the capax 
urna each and every name of the 
most exalted (and most debased) of 
men. — Caius Julius Caesar Octavius 

Augustus. 

The Latin "necessitas" is stamped by 
the Greek avdyicr) ( a privilege which 
Horace argues for in the "Ars 
Poetica") : 

5. strictus ensis hangs over the impia 

cervix of "Caesar": for him (says the 
poet caustically) the Siculae dapes 
have no savor of Iesous Cristos; and 
the cantus avium, citarae bring not to 
the irreligious despot the quies that 
stands for Him who said "Come unto 
me all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest." 

6. PROFAN 

Dividing the picture into PROFA, ROFA 
and PROF (each of wich points quies), 
he now proceeds to grave the Name: 
PROFA : humiles agrestium 

virorum domus enjoy 

Iesous Cristos; 
ROFA : umbrosa ripa enjoys 

Iesous Cristos; 
PROF : zepyris agita 

Tempe enjoys " 

7. The graving of the Name is continued. 
PROFAN : tumultuosum mare can- 
not thwart the reader who 
desires the all-sufficient 

Ieosus Cristos ; 

DROFAN : nor Arcturus 

cadens 

« it 

ROFAN : nor Hoedus 

oriens 



Cipher Reading. 



DVOLIAN; 

DVO, FAN. ICVOFAIV 

R-OLI-AN (OLI=R). 

ROFAIV (OF=VF or S) ROFVIIV 

ICVOLIAIV ICVOTIAIV 
DVOVVTIIV. 



DVOTITIIV l-CV-OF-AN, 

ROTIAIV (OT=P) 
ROVVIVN 
DVO-TI-AIV ROTIVIIV ( RV=VV or S). 

DVOVVAN ROFAIV, DVO-TI-AIV. 
ROFAIV. 



PROLIA, ROTIA, DIRO-TI. 

ICDVOVV-TI IOICCV-CC-TIA 
ICI-ROVVVI PDVOL-IVI, 
DIROVVA ICROTIIT. 
IOVCC-VV-VI R-OT-IA, 

DVOTIA ICVOTIIT. 
ICDVOTI IOIOVOTI 
ICI-DVO-TI, DIDVO-TI DIICVOTI. 

I-CC-IICCVCCTIV-IIV 

PR-O-TI-A-IV (OIV=R), 



PROLIAN ICROT-IVI-N? 
DI-CVOVVVIIV 
DROVVAN (RV=S), 

DROFAIV ICROT-IVI-N; 
DVO-TI-AN 
ROTIAN, 

DVOFAIV ROTIITIV; 



258 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Non verberatae grandine vineae, 
30. Fundusque mendax, arbore nunc aquas 
Culpante, nunc torrentia agros 
Sidera, nunc hiemes iniquas. 
Contracta pisces aequora sentiunt 8 

Jactis in altum molibus : hue frequens 
35. Caementa demittit redemptor 9 

Cum famulis dominusque terrae 
Fastidiosus ; sed Timor et Minae 
Scandunt eodem quo dominus, neque 
Decedit aerata triremi et 
40. Post equitem sedet atra Cura. 

Quod si dolentem nee Phygius lapis 10 

Nee purpurarum sidere clarior 
Delenit usus nee Falerna 

Vitis Achaemeniumque costum? 
45. Cur invidendis postibus et novo 
Sublime ritu moliar atrium : 

Cur valle permutem Sabina 
Divitias operosiores. 



No — nor the vines by hailstones scourged, nor farm 
That plays him false, with timber carping at 
The floods, the blighting stars, 
And winters harsh. 
The fishes know through sense the plains abridged 
By moles flung in the depth : here earth's High Lord 
And common Saviour, with 
Disciples his, 
The groundwork lays ; but, where the Master goes, 
Go fear and threats; and with the trireme staunch 
Stays bitter care, and sits 
Behind the Lord. 
If Phrygian marble, purple's starry wear, 
Falernian wine and Achamenian spice 
Some discontented one 

Please not — what then? 
Why, then on solid posts I'll build a court 
In way that's great and new : why, then I'll trade 
For more efficient wealth 
My Sabine vale. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 259 



NOTES. 

DO FAN : nor can the vineae lashed 

by grando prevent him 

from Iesous Cristos 

CROFAN : nor fundus mendax, 

Iesous Cristos 
VOFAN : nor the arbos, 

Iesous Cristos 

nor what it blames, 
VOFAI : diluvia, that give only 

Iesos Cristos, 
OFAN : astra (such malign ones 

as Sirius and Scorpio), 

that give only 

Iesos Cristos, 
VOFAV : and iemes, that give 

Iesous, but no "Christ" 

form. 

PROFAN 
The pisces or Cristiani know the ae- 
quora or Jerusalem (abridged into 
Salem by moles flung in-altum). 
Modern explorations have proved 
(what Josephus, Tacitus and others 
have mentioned) that Jerusalem is 
undermined by a series of water- 
courses. 

Pisces points Christui, and was a com- 
mon password among the initiated to 
denote the ''Christians" who knew 
"through sense" of what they read the 
spot of earth where Christ would labor 
and expound his doctrine. 
In this Jerusalem the timor (OFAN) 
and minae (ROFAN) of Scribes and 
Pharisees attend the Dominus ( PRO- 
FAN ) and Redemptor ; and with the 
three (for the picture points triremis, 
and "the trireme" will show up by 
drawing lines, or tiers of oars, beneath 
each of the three combinations) is 
cura (FAN, FA, ROF, DRO, and PR) 
where she sits as atra behind the eques 
(OFAN) or Iesous Cristos (note 7). 
He runs briefly over the Name com- 
binations already formed; from 
Prygius lapis ( PROF) ; purpurarum 
usus (PROFA), enriched with a sidus 
or star-like badge for ornament ; 
Falernum (PROFAN); and the in- 
tervening Syria costus (ROFA). 
If each of those does not fully satisfy 
the exacting reader, what then? 
To satisfy him, he will build on validi 
postes (ROFAI) an atrium — and build 
it "in a new and superior way" so as 
to read Iesous straight from right to 
left : ves, and getting rid of Sabina 
valles (PROFAN), he will take the oper- 
osiores divitiae ( PROFAI ) that also 
reads Iesous straight, and straight 
either way. 



Cipher Reading. 

ICO-TI-AN, 
DOVVAN, 

DOLIAN DOVVTIN 
CROT-IVI-N CDVOVVAN, 

CROLIAN CROTIT-IIV 
VOFAN, 

VOTIAN VOTIT1IV 

VCCTIAI, 

VCCVVAI VCCTITII; 
OTIAIV 
(OTIVIN, CCLIVIIV) 



VOTIV-IV 



OTIAN CCTITIIV; 
VCCTIAV. 



PROLIV-I1V (RV=S), ICIR-CC-TIAN, 
ICIRO-TI-AIV or ICIIOVOL-IT-IIV, 
(PROFAN, PROFAN, PDVO-TI-V— IN). 



DI-ISCVIVS 



OTI-IVI-V, 

ROLIAN (RL=LL or M), 

PDVOFTIN, 

IOIICVO-VV-AIV. 

DIROTI-IVI-V. 



LIVIIV, OVVA. ROW, DI-CVO, ICIICV 
IOIOV. OVVAN. 



ICDVOLI PROTI; ICCIICCVCCL-IVI 
PROL-IVI, PROVVTI; 

ICI-CVOVVAN; 
ROTIA DVOTIVI. 



ROFTII 

DVOTIAI, DVOVVAI, 

DVOVVAI : 

PROLIAN 

PROL-IT-I1V, 

ICCIIOVOVVVII DIROTIAI, 

ICI-ROVVAI, or l-DI-CVOF-IVI. 



2 6o THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Ovid. Metamorph. XV. Fab. X. 

Scheme : Augustus, desiring to be deemed not only a 
god but the son of a god, fostered the report that Julius Caesar 
had been changed to a star by Venus, and ordained that divine 
honors should be paid to him. 

This impious desire furnishes Ovid with an opportunity for 
venting his opinion regarding the dead Caesar and the living 
one, and leads up to his picture (the "advena" of the opening 
line) where "the Christian woman" (under guise of Venus) 
sees the "cross," "hammer" and "nails" prepared for Him, her 
High Priest, whose name she paints in five different combi- 
nations. 

A list of signs attending the Crucifixion having been 
enumerated, the author points out the hidden anagram 
("Christ Jesus is coming") in his picture, tells the hearer that 
Christ's coming is close at hand, preaches dogma as sound as 
it is universal, dwells at length upon the pictured Name, 
prophesies the object and results of our Saviour's mission, how 
He would inculcate peace and justice, establish his Church, 
and remain on earth until "He has made the figures of his 
years the same." 

After ingeniously picturing one other combination of the 
Name, the poet concludes with a scathing denunciation of 
Augustus — a denunciation that extends even to the hereafter. 

Hie tamen accessit delubris advena nostris. I 

Caesar in urbe sua deus est, quern marte togaque 2 
Praecipuum non bella magis finita triumphis 3 

Resque domi gestae properataque gloria rerum 
5. In sidus vertere novum stellamque comantem, 4 

Quam sua progenies ; neque enim de Caesaris actis 5 

Ullum majus opus, quam quod pater extitit hujus. 
Scilicet aequoreos plus est domuisse Britannos, 
Perque papyriferi septemflua flumina Nili 
10. Victrices egisse rates, Numidasque rebelles 

Yet did He come, a stranger to our shrines. 

In his own city Caesar is a god, 
The Caesar whom, renowned through sword and gown, 
His battles finished with triumphal shows, 
His deeds at home, and fortune's quick hurra, 
Have no more changed to an abnormal sphere 
And blazing star, than his descendant — for 
No deed of all that Caesar did was more 
Portentous than the fathering this man. 
The sea-girt Britons to have tamed, and led 
Victorious fleets through reedy, seven-sourced Nile ; 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 261 
NOTES. Cipher Reading. 



1. ADVENA 

His picture contains the substance of 

the line : 

Iesous Christos accessit 

delubris advena nostris. 
"And the world knew him not." 

(John I-io). 

2. Julius Caesar (ADVE) is a deus in Roma. 

3. morte toga : Caesar was as great an 

advocate as he was a 
soldier, 
bella : the "De Bello Gallico" and "De 
Bello Civile" form a rather 
sickening detail of ambitious 
conquest, wholesale slaughter 
and specious pretexts for his 
course of action, 
res domi : he spent enormous sums in 
catering for popularity and 
power, was strongly sus- 
pected of being privy to 
Catiline's conspiracy, and 
was the first to abolish 
the Republican form of 
government in Rome, 
prop. glor. rerum : an allusion to the 
short-lived glory 
he enjoyed after 
establishing him- 
self as sole ruler. 

4. If changed to a star, it must (says the 
poet with bitter sarcasm) have been "a 
strange kind of star, and a hot one" 
(stell. comant.) 

5. The "non magis. . .quam" is truly 
Delphic utterance, since it gives a neg- 
ative as well as an affirmative meaning 
to the lines. His wars (savage as they 
were), his corruption (public as it 
was), his private aims (subversive of 
republicanism as they were) — all those, 
bad though they might be, were as 
nothing compared with the act of 
adopting Augustus. 



V-ID-VFI-IVI-V V-ID-VITINIV 

AICVITINIT 
VIDVEIVVI ADVENA VIDVFINVI. 



IVDVFI AIOVIIVS, ADV-LII, IVI-OVE. 



262 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Cinyphiumque Jubam, Mithridateisque tumentem 
Nominibus Pontum populo adjecisse Quirini, 
Et multos meruisse, aliquos egisse triumphos, 
Quam tantum genuisse virum ! Quo praeside rerum 

15. Humano generi, superi, favistis abunde! 

Ne foret hie igitur mortali semine cretus, 
Ille deus faciendus erat. Quod ut aurea vidit 
Aeneae genitrix, vidit quoque triste parari 
Pontifici lethum et conjurata arma moveri. 

20. Palluit et cunctis, ut cuique erat obvia, divis 
"Aspice," dicebat, "quanta mihi mole parentur 
Insidiae, quantaque caput cum fraude petatur 
Quod de Dardanio solum mihi restat Iulo. 
Solane semper ero duris exercita curis? 

25. Quam modo Tydidae Calydonia vulneret hasta, 
Nunc male def ensae confundant moenia Troiae : 



To have annexed unto the Roman state 
Cinyphian Juba, the Numidian foes 
And Pontus puffed with Mithridatic names; 
Full many triumphs to have earned, and some 
To have mapped out in thought : is each and all 
Of those more vital in results, forsooth, 
Than 'tis to have occasioned such a man ! 
With what a patron of the world, O gods, 
Have ye humanity so richly helped ! 

So, lest he might from mortal seed be born, 
The other was ordained to be a god. 
Which when beheld by love (the ardent love 
That gave Aeneas birth), she also saw 
The horrid death for our High Priest prepared, 
And weapons preordained to be employed. 
Then ghastly pale she grew, and cried aloud 
To all the gods, as each she met, "Behold ! 
With how much pains are snares prepared for me; 
And with what craft the Life (which faces me 
Alone from Dardan Julius) is sought. 
Shall I, shall I with none for company 
Be always hampered by those bitter cares? 
I whom just now the son of Tydeus 
Can puncture with a Calydonian spear, 
And whom Troy's ruined breastworks now amaze ; 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 263 



. NOTES. 

egisse: after Julius Caesar became 
virtual ruler of Rome, he be- 
gan to revolve vast schemes 
(the conquest of the Par- 
thians, Danube tribes, etc.) for 
the greater aggrandizement of 
himself and of the empire. 
The poetic gods are to be congratulated 
for having propagated the truth among 
christian believers in despite of a ruler 
that out-Caesared Caesar. 

ADVENA 
Caesar deus ( ADVE, note 2) factus 
erat. When the aurea genitrix (AD- 
VENA ) or Cristiana ("the christian 
maid" for whom Venus acts as a cover 
in the Aeneid) sees the above ADVE, 
she also sees the triste letum or trabs 
prepared for her High Priest, and the 
tudes that was to be wielded in driving 
the nails, 
palluit ; 

dicebat Cristianis. 
She calls attention to the insidiae pre- 
pared for herself (note 8), to the re- 
peated fraus (ADVE, DVEN, VENA) 
whereby the Name (note 1) is ob- 
tained, and remarks that whoever else 
sees Iulius in each of those last three 
combinations, the only Head that faces 
her in them is Iesos 

Cristos 
She points herself 

(a) as the Cristua sola (ADVE) ham- 

pered by durae curae ; 

(b) " " Christua (T DVEN A) 

wounded by Tydides 

with a Calydonia 
hasta ; 

(c) " " Creistua (DVEN A) 

troubled by the iner- 
mia moenia Troiae 



Cipher Reading. 



VIIOVLII 

ADVE. 

ADVEI-VIV (VIV=R) VIDVI-VV-NA, 

ADV1IVSNA. 



TIIOVIS IVI-OVLII, ADVLII; 
ADVTT. 

V-ID-VFI-IVI-V; 

VIDV-TI-IVI-A TII-CC-VICSNA. 
AI-CV-ITINA. 

VIICVE, ICVEIV, VEIVIV. 

V1DVFI, ICVFIN, VFINIV. 

TIDVE, DV-TI-IN, VENIT. 
TIIOVICS, ICCVTTN, VICSIVIT. 

VIIOVICS IVI-OVE, 

AICVI-TI VIICVI-TI; 

TI-CVITIIVA, 

TDVE1VTI, 

TIOVVIVNA 

TI-CV-ENA; 

IOVICSIVA, 

IOVISNA 10VICSNA DVEIVA, 



264 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Quae videam natum longis erroribus actum, 1 1 

Jactarique freto, sedesque intrare silentum, 
Bellaque cum Turno gerere, aut, si vera fatemur, 

30. Cum Junone magis. Quid nunc antiqua recordor 

Damna mei generis : timor hie meminisse priorum 12 

Non sinit : in me acui sceleratos cernitis enses ! 
Quos prohibite, precor, facinusque repellite, neve 
Caede sacerdotis flammas extinguite Vestae." 

35. Talia nequicquam toto Venus anxia caelo 

Verba jacit superosque movet, qui rumpere quamquam 13 
Ferrea non possunt veterum decreta sororum, 
Signa tamen luctus dant haud incerta futuri. 
Arma ferunt inter nigras crepitantia nubes 

40. Terribilesque tubas auditaque cornua caelo 

Praemonuisse nefas. Solis quoque tristis imago 14 

Lurida sollicitis praebebat lumina terris. 
Saepe faces visae mediis ardere sub astris : 
Saepe inter nimbos guttae cecidere cruentae. 

45. Caeruleus et vultum ferrugine Lucifer atra 
Sparsus erat, sparsi lunares sanguine currus. 



I who can fix my gaze upon the Son 

Determined still through long continued faults, 

The Son who's on the fretted torrent tossed, 

Who penetrates the dead ones' resting spots, 

Who wages war on war with Turnus (or 

With Juno rather, if the truth we own). 

Why mention now my kindred's wrongs of yore : 

Dread of the ones before me here forbids 

Relating them : you see those ruthless dirks, 

And that they're pointed sharp for me — for me ! 

Oh ! ward them off, prevent the savage deed, 

Nor Vesta's flames quench with the High Priest's blood.' 

In every quarter anxious love pours forth 
Such words in vain ; in vain she moves the gods 
Who, though they cannot break fate's iron laws, 
Give likely tokens of the woe to come. 
The impious deed, they say, had been forewarned 
By weapons clattering midst the darkling clouds, 
By dreadful trumps and horns heard in heaven. 
The louring image of the sun itself 
Shed but a lurid light on frightened earth ; 
Oft midst the stars were meteors seen to blaze ; 
Oft midst the rain clouds trickled bloody specks; 
And the pale morning star had dashed its face 
In rusty black; the moon, its tracks in blood. 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 265 



13. 



NOTES. 

ADVENA 

She points the Son in 
IDVENA : where Iesous Cristos ap- 
pears in spite of diuturni 
errores; 
IDVENI : where Iesous Cristos is 

cast upon the fretum or 
terra; 
"He shall drink of the torrent in the 
way." (Ps. cix.7). 

TDVENI : where Iesous Cristos en- 
ters sedes silentium, or 
Hades; 
CVENA : where Iesous Cristos bat- 

tles with Turnus, or 
Lucina, or with (what 
Juno represents) mundus ; 
TDVENA : where Iesous Cristos is 
marked for the antiqua 
damna (or peccata) hu- 
mani generis. 
Fear of those she sees in the last com- 
bination — Caesar Octavius Augustus — 
prevents her from dilating on the orig- 
inal sins for which the Son was marked 
or bruised; but "you see those enses, 
the clavi-ferri (TDVENA), the iron 
spikes that have been sharpened for 
crucifixion's work — and sharpened for 
sake of me, the Christian !" 
prohibite; f acinus pellite; 

caedes pontificis minime 

extinguet flammas vestae. 

The superi or Cristiani (ADVENA) 
declare that the crucifixion is inevi- 
table, and will be heralded by signs. 
"And when the sixth hour was come, 
there was darkness over the whole 
earth until the ninth hour" 

(Mark xv. 33). 



Cipher Reading. 



IDVE-IVI-V IIOVIS-IVI-V, 

IDVLIINIV 

IIOVI-TI-IVIV; 

IIOVENI IIOVISIVI, 

IICVISIVI, 

IDVEIVI; 



TIOVE-IVI TIOVLII-IVI, 

TI-CV-TI-INI TIOVIIVSNI, 

TDVEIVA; 

CVENTI CVISIVTI, 

CVFINTI, 

CVFINA, 

CV-ICSNIV; 

TIOVE-IVI-V (TV=S) TICVLII-IVI-V, 

TICVENA 

TDVENA (TV=M), TI-CVT-Ti-VA, 

TI-CV-ENIV TI-CVENIT. 

TI-CVENA TI-OVLIINIV TDVVIVIVA. 



TI-CV-LII-NA, 
TI-CCVI— VVIVA. 



TI-CCVEIVIT; TDVFINIV IIDVEIVIV; 
TI-CV-TI-IIVA TIOVVIVNIT l-IIC-VENIV 
TIOVIIV-CC-NA Tl-CC-VVIVIVA 

TIO-VF-IIVA. 
VI-DV-E-IVI-V (DV=), VIDVITINA. 



266 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Tristia mille locis Stygius declit omina bubo ; 

Mille locis lacrimavit ebur; cantusque feruntur 

Anditi Sanctis et verba minantia lucis. 15 

50. Victima nulla litat, magnosque instare tumultus 16 

Fibra monet, caesumque caput reperitur in extis. 
Inque foro circumque domos et templo deorum 
Nocturnos ululasse canes, umbrasque silentum 17 

Erravisse ferunt, motamque tremoribus urbem. 

55. Non tamen insidias venturaque vincere fata 

Praemonitus potuere deum ; strictique feruntur 18 

In templum gladii : neque enim locus ullus in urbe 
Ad f acinus diramque placet, nisi curia, caedem. iy 

Turn vero Cytherea manu percussit utraque 20 

60. Pectus, et aetheria molitur condere nube 
Qua prius infesto Paris est ereptus Atridae, 
Et Diomedeos Aeneas fugerat enses. 

Talibus hanc genitor: "Sola insuperabile fatum 21 

Nata movere paras? Intres licet ipsa sororum 

65. Tecta trium: cernes illic molimine vasto 



Weird signs the night owl gave in many spots; 
In many spots did ivory grow moist ; 
And in the holy places of the Light 
Were dirges heard, they say, and boding sounds. 
(No beast appeases and no bowel tells 
The great convulsions that are close at hand ; 
No ruptured heart is in the entrails found). 
They say that in the forum, round the homes 
And temples of the gods, the night dogs howled ; 
That here and there the ghosts of dead men roamed, 
And that the city was with earthquakes rocked. 
Yet such prognostications could not foil 
The plots and coming judgments of the gods ; 
And brandished swords are to the temple borne — 
For nowhere in the city, save this house, 
Suits the vile deed and dreadful rain of blows. 

Ah, then, pure love with both hands struck her breast, 
And strives to hide in the ethereal cloud 
In which was Paris erstwhile snatched away 
From furious Menelaus, and in which 
Aeneas shunned Diomedean darts. 
The author spoke her thus: "Art thou prepared 
To alter the supports that have produced 
The high decree that cannot be recalled? 
Enter (thou can'st) the three weird sisters' roofs: 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 267 



NOTES. 

15. "And the veil of the temple was rent in 
the midst." (Luke xxiii. 45) 

16. Pagan augury and pagan aruspicy were 
unconscious of the great event and of 
the phenomena that heralded it. 
caesum caput: "a slain head" (as it is 
usually rendered) would be a wondrous 
thing, even for the augurs, to find in 
the entrails. Since exta denotes all the 
contents, in the thoracic as well as the 
abdominal cavity, it includes the heart, 
which is the chief or head; and a 
heart abnormal in any way was con- 
sidered unlucky by the aruspices. 

17. "And the earth quaked, and the rocks 
were rent. And the graves were 
opened ; and many bodies of the saints 
that had slept, arose." 

Matt, xxvii. 51, 52. 

18. deum : the Jewish gods, the priests and 
scribes. 

19. caedem: caedo (from which the noun 
is formed) means primarily "to 
scourge, beat, strike." 

"Then did they spit in his face, and 
buffet him, and others struck his face 
with the palms of their hands." 

(Matt. xxvi. 67). 

20. ADVENA 

The horrified christian, or Cytherea 
(ADVENA) strikes each pectus 
(ADVEN, DVENA) with nanus; 
and makes an effort to hide in 
I DVENA (which points Cyterea, 
Cristiana, and aeteria nubes) — the same 

"cloud" that hid Paris and Aeneas 

from their foes. 

21. The author (of the poem) asks if she 
is ready to alter the letters that sup- 
port "the immutable decree of Provi- 
dence," and invites her to enter (as 
she can, note 8) the ADVENA or 
abodes of Clotho (ADVE), Lacesis 
(ADVEN) and Atropos (ADVENA). 



Cipher Reading. 



AIOVT-TI-VA, 
AICVFIN, ICVENIV, 
AIC-VF-IN, I-CV-EN1V; 

IIOVEIVIT, 

IIOVIIVSNA, 

IIOVIIVSIVA (VV=S or T) ID-VFINVI. 

I-DV-F-IIV-A (DV=R), 

IIOVIIVSNA (IS=E). 



TI-IOVVIV, ADVI-VV-SI-V, 
A-DV-VIVNIV (DV=R) 



268 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Ex aere et solido rerum tabularia ferro, 22 

Quae neque concursum caeli, neque fulminis iram, 
Nee metuunt ullas tnta atqtie aeterna ruinas : 
Invenies illic incisa adamante perenni 

70. Fata tui generis. Legi ipse animaque notavi ; 

Et referam, ne sis etiamnum ignara futuri. 23 

Hie sua complevit, pro quo, Cytherea, laboras, 
Tempora : perfectis quos terrae debuit annis, 
Ut deus accedat caelo templisque locetur. 

75. Tu facies: natusque suus, qui nominis haeres 
Impositum foret unus onus, caedisque parentis 
Nos in bella suos fortissimus ultor habebit. 
Illius auspiciis obsessae moenia pacem 24 

Victa petent Mutinae : Pharsalia sentiet ilium, 

80. Emathiaque iterum madeficient caede Philippi : 
Et magnum Siculis nomen superabitur undis : 
Romanique ducis conjunx Aegyptia taedae 
Non bene fisa cadet, frustraque erit ilia minata 



In volume vast of brass and iron pure 

Thou'lt see the pandects of creation there — 

The sure and everlasting pandects which 

Dread not the heavenly vault's unceasing round, 

The lightning's fury, or the crash of worlds: 

There, graved in undecaying adamant, 

Thou'lt find thy people's solemn prophecies. 

I've scanned and weighed them well myself; and, lest 

You still know not what is to come, I'll speak. 

He whom thou art so anxious for, pure love, 

Has filled the times allotted by himself: 

The years being finished which He owed to earth, 

He must, as God, return to heaven again, 

And must as God be in our temples placed. 

Thou art His likeness ; and each child of His 

Who'll singly bear the burden that's imposed, 

Who'll singly bear the wars against ourselves, 

Will prove himself the Name's inheritor 

And best avenger of our Father's death. 

O'ercome by signs of His, the battlements 

Of Mutina besieged will sue for Peace : 

Pharsalia will acknowledge Him, and oft 

Will with Emathean gore Philippi reek: 

The great Name will run o'er Sicilian waves ; 

And she, the Roman chief's Egyptian spouse 

Regardless of the marriage torch, will fall. 

And she, who dared but dared in vain to threat, 






IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 269 



NOTES. 

22. ADVENA 

Here she will find a vastum molimen, 
made of aes (ADVE, EN A) and 
solidum ferrum, which contains the 
rerum tabularia; here, graved in 
perenis adamas is 

Iesous Christos advenit 
"the decree that is immutable against 
all convulsions of nature, the pandects 
on which and for which the universe 
and man were created, the unvarying 
prophesy of countless patriarchs." 

23. The author flings discretion to the 
winds and preaches dogma without 
disguise. 

24. He glorifies "the great Name" that fills 
his picture : 

it will conquer the obsessae moenia 
Mutinae : it will be acknowledged by 
Pharsalia, and (repeatedly) by the 
Philippi (ADVEN, DVENA) that 
reeks, as a whole, with Emathia 
caedes : it will override the Siculae 
undae (in the same two combinations) : 
Cleopatra and Canopus will fall before 
and serve the Name of Him who is the 
poet's "Capitol," who is "my rock and 
my fortress" (Ps. xviii-2) ; so will 
barbaries fall, and the gentes, the 
abitabile terra, 

and pontus. 



Cipher Reading. 

IVI-CV-FIIVA IVI-CV-VIVNA; 
V-ID-VE, ENA; 

IVI-OVF-IIV-IT IV-DV-LII-IVI-V; 
A-DV-VIV-V-IV (VIV=R) AIOVVIVIVA. 
V-1D-VENIT ADV-TI-IIVA, 
Note 1, ADVENIT 



AI-CC-VIIVSNA V-ID-VF-INA 

VIIO-VF-INA; 

TI-IOVIIVSIVA, 

TI-ICVFIIV, ICVFIIV-TI, 

TI-IOV-TI-IIVA 

ADVENA; AICVTIIIV ADVEN, 

ICVTIIIVA DVENA: 

AIOVIVVSIVA, V-ID-VFINIV: 



AIOVVIVIVA, T-IIC-VENA, 
AIOVT-TI-VIV A-DV-TIII-VIV (VIV=R) 
VIDVFINA (A=0, IVI=S). 



270 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Servitura suo Capitolia nostra Canopo ; 

85. Quid tibi barbariem, gentes ab utroque jacentes 
Oceano numerem? Quodcumque habitabile tellus 
Sustinet, hujus erit: pontus quoque serviet illi. 
Pace data terris animum ad civilia vertet 25 

Jura suum, legesque feret justissimus anctor, 

90. Exemploque suo mores reget; inqe futuri 
Temporis aetatem venturorumque nepotum 
Prospiciens prolem sancta de conjuge natam 26 

Ferre simul nomenque suum curasque jubebit : 
Nee nisi cum senior similes aequaverit annos, 27 

95. Aetherias sedes cognataque sidera tanget. 28 

Hanc animam interea caeso de corpore raptarn 29 

Fac jubar, ut semper Capitolia nostra forumque 
Divus ab excelsa prospectet Iulius aede." 

Vix ea fatus erat, media cum sede senatus 30 

100. Constitit alma Venus, nulli cernenda, suique 
Caesaris eripuit membris, nee in aera solvi 
Passa recentem animam caelestibus intulit astris : 



Will with her own Canopus serve this rock 

And fortress ours. Why name barbarians rude, 

The people that by either ocean dwell? 

Whatever land's for habitation fit, 

That will be His: the sea will serve Him too. 

When peace established is o'er every clime, 

The Source of all that's just will turn the mind 

That's his to civil rights, will laws prescribe, 

Will by his own example rule men's ways, 

Will, looking forward to prospective time 

And generations yet to come, ordain 

The issue bred of spouse that's sanctified 

To bear alike His crosses and His name; 

Nor heavenly homes, nor stars of common kin, 

Will He appoach till, more advanced in age, 

He's made the figures of his years the same. 

This life, snatched meanwhile from the substance carved, 

Make thou a star — so that the Julian god 

From his exalted home may forward look 

At this our Refuge and our Rock for aye." 

Scarce had he spoke, when in the curia's midst 
The kindly Venus (marked by none) stood forth. 
Snatched from her Caesar's, her own Caesar's limbs 
The clinging life, and (not permitting it 
Be spent in air) sped onwards to the stars; 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 271 



NOTES. 

25. The object and results of our Saviour's 
mission are prophesied. 

26. sancta Conjuge : the Church, or Spouse 
of Christ. 

27. The figures of Christ's years on earth, 
whether in Roman characters (xxxiii) 
or Arabic (33), are equal (three tens, 
three units). 

28. The stars are kin to one another by 
right of the same creative Father, and 
of one and the same original matter. 

29. ADVENA 

She is directed to take the anima 
( D V E N ) caeso corpore rapta, and to 
change it into a jubar that may be 
looked forward at by the "Julian god" 
(note 2) from alta aedes (ADVE). 

30. Cristua (DVEN) — the alma Venus 
that is seen by nullus, for the pagan 
does not know the cypher and the cult 
sees only "the christian" — appears in 
the curia, snatches from the members 
of her own Caesar ("Christ Jesus" in 
ADVENA) the recens anima, and, while 
bearing it off — not to the left where 
it would be lost in aer (ADVE), but 
to the supera astra ( DVENA ) on the 
right— her sinus ( DVEN ) feels it 
catching the lumen and ignis 

of Iesos Cristos : 
then she lets it go : 



Cipher Reading. 



IOVICSN 

IOVEIV ICCVVIVIV IOVEIV, 

DVFIIV. 

ADVEAIOVIIVS. 

IOVICSIV. IO-VF-IIV IOVFIN, 

IOVVIVN. 



DVFIIV. 

IOVIIVSN, note 29. 

A-DV-E. 

DVLIIIVA DVENA. 

DVISN. 

IOVVIVN, IC-VF-IN, 

DVI-TI-N IOVIVVSIV. 



272 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

Dumque tulit, lumen capere atque ignescere sensit, 
Emisitque sinu. Luna volat altius ilia, 31 

105. Flammiferumque trahens spatioso limite crinem 
Stella micat: natique videns benefacta fatetur 
Esse suis majora, et vinci gaudet ab illo. 32 

Hlc sua praeferri quamquam vetat acta paternis, 
Libera fama tamen nullisque obnoxia jussis 

no. Invitum praefert : unaque in parte repugnat. 33 

Sic magni cedit titulis Agamemnonis Atreus : 34 

Aegea sic Theseus, sic Pelea vincit Achilles : 
Denique, ut exemplis ipsos aequantibus utar, 
Sic et Saturnus minor est Jove. Juppiter arces 

115. Temperat aetherias et mundi regna: triformis 35 

Terra sub Augusto : pater est et rector uterque. 

Di, precor, Aeneae comites quibus ensis et ignis 36 

Cesserunt, dique Indigetes, genitorque Quirine 
Urbis, et invicti genitor Gradive Quirini, 



And while she sped, she felt it catch the Light 

And hotter grow, and sent it from her breast. 

It flies ; beyond night's ruling orb it flies ; 

And, in the highway of extended space 

Dragging a blazing tail, it beams a star. 

Then, gazing on her Son's good works, she owns 

Them greater than her own and feels rejoiced 

For sake of Him at being overcome. 

Though He forbids expressly that his works 

Should be preferred before the Father's, still 

Opinion, liberal and not constrained 

By set commands, prefers the backward one 

(And it but differs in a single point). 

So Atreus yields to Agamemnon's marks ; 

So Aegeus is by Theseus overcome ; 

So Peleus by Achilles ; and, in fine, 

(To use them for examples parallel) 

So Saturn, too, inferior is to Jove. 

Jove rules the lofty forts and realms of earth ; 

The triune land beneath Augustus lies : 

A father and dictator each one is. 

Ye gods, companions of the Brazen Age, 
For whom the sword and fire have passed away; 
Ye mortal men who've been adored as gods ; 
And thou, Rome's founder, Romulus; and Mars, 
The sire of iron-hearted Romulus; 



/A r HOMER, HESIOD, 
NOTES. 

31. ADVENA 

Flying beyond luna ( DVEN ), with a 
crinis behind, it reaches D V E N A 
where it becomes a Stella that beams 
with the full brilliancy of Iesous 
Christos. 

32. The "christian" confesses (and is glad 
to do so "in majorem Dei gloriam") 
that her own DVEN is not as good a 
Name combination as the DVENA ; 
and public opinion agrees with her in 
the superiority of the latter (the in- 
vitus, "unwilling, or backward one") 
in every way over the former, even 
though this DVEN points Pater — a 
coincidence that furnishes the poet an 
opportunity of declaring that the Father 
and the Son are equal in all things. 

33. In only one point does Iesous differ 
from Iesos, and Christos from Cristos. 

34. To show that it is a mere question as 
to the number and quality of cypher 
characters, and to lead up to his conclu- 
sion, he institutes a comparison between 
Atrides (ADVENA) and Atreus (ADVEN) 
Theseus „ „ Aegeus ,, 
Achilles „ „ Peleus „ 
Juppiter „ „ Saturnus ,, 

35. Juppiter (ADVENA) rules ( with pagan 
sway) the eteriae arces and 

terrae regna; 
triformis terra lies 

beneath Augustus: 
Each is a father and a ruler — and 
mythology vouches for the fact that 
the Pagan deity was exceedingly lax in 
cinjugal fidelity, morality, truth, mercy, 
in everything except maintaining the 
despotic sway which he exercised. 

36. He concludes by giving to Caesar 
what's Caesar's. Is it flattery? If so, 
preserve us from all such ! 

What gods does 'he invoke? The 
Aeneae (aetatis) comites, or Aenea 
proles (as he styles them in Met. I. 
Fab IV. 13), the "Brazen Race" iden- 
tified by Hesiod as the Antediluvian 
wicked who delighted in the works of 
sword and fire, and perished for their 
impiety ; 



VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 273 

Cipher Reading. 

DVFIN, 

ICVISN. 

DVT-TI-VA, 

DVENVI 

IOVIVVSIV-TI. 



DVISNVI. 



IOVEIV. 



ADVENIT, ADV-TI-IIV. 

TIIOVEN-TI, AIOVEIV. 
AICV-TI-IIV-TI, AICVEIV. 
IV-DV-TI-IIVIV, VIIOVIIVSN. 

AlOVLIIIVA (VV=S or T) A-DV-E-IVI-V, 
A-DV-TI-IIVA V-ID-VENIV (VIV=R) ; 
VIDVISIVIV A-DV-TI-II-VIV 
TIICVFIIVA.: 



274 THE CHRIST OF PROMISE 

120. Vestaque Caesareos inter sacrata penates ; 

Et cum Caesarea tu, Phoebe domestice, Vesta ; 

Quique tenes altus Tarpeias Juppiter arces ; 

Quosque alios vati fas appellare piumque est : 

Tarda sit ilia dies et nostro serior aevo 
125. Qua caput Augustum, quem temperat orbe relicto, 

Accedat caelo ; faveatque precantibus absens. 

And Vesta, doomed in Caesar's household gods ; 
And Phoebe, with that Caesar's Vesta housed; 
And suckled Jove, who hast Tarpeian heights — 
All ye, and whomso else 'tis right and meet 
For seer to call upon, I thus invoke : 
Slow be that day, and later than our time, 
When goes to heaven that Augustan head, 
The sphere abandoned which he seasons well ; 
And, far from those who woo the ear divine 
In intercession, may he wish them well ! 



IN HOMER, HESIOD, VERGIL, OVID, ETC. 275 

the Indigetes or men deified before or after death, and among whom was 
Romulus ; Mars, the type of merciless warfare ; Vesta, the virginal in- 
nocence marked for destruction ("sacrata") by the lustful eyes in Caesar's 
palace and in Caesar's own apartments; Phoebe, the domestic purity out- 
raged by Caesar's self, by his daughter Julia, and by her daughter of the 
same name; and pagan Jupiter who, though fathered by a Kronos and 
suckled ("altus" or "alitus") by an Amalthea, was worshipped as an 
infinite and omnipotent god through the length and breadth of Rome's vast 
empire. 

This is not a flattering assemblage to invoke ! But it is a suitable one 
for a haughty, would-be-deified, merciless, war-loving, lustful, adulterous 
and idolatrous emperor. 

And what of the poet's prayer? Christian doctrine tells him that he, 
with others, must be purged in a Hades before he can go to heaven; and 
Christian charity forbids him from excluding even Augustus from the list 
of those others. But Christian indignation compels him to desire a long, 
long purgatory for Augustus — longer than his own, however long that 
may be ; and, finally, Christian pity and Christian counsel prompt him to 
pray that the Caesar's only thought in the purgatory "which he seasons 
well," may be to wish success for those, whether in heaven or on earth, 
who are praying for his release. 



MAY 10 iyU9 



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